The Toronto Maple Leafs have the NHL’s best record at 18-6-2 even after losing two in a row to the struggling Vancouver Canucks after sweeping the Edmonton Oilers on their five-game Western Canada road swing, but there continues to be chatter that Leafs GM Kyle Dubas is interested in upgrading the club’s depth before the April 12 trade deadline.
The Leafs have encountered their share of injuries in the first 26 games of an abbreviated 56-game regular season schedule, with Auston Matthews banged up on two separate occasions, Wayne Simmonds out up to six weeks with a broken wrist, Joe Thornton missing time with broken ribs, Jake Muzzin with a broken facial bone, and goaltenders Frederik Andersen and Jack Campbell out for extended periods with lower body injuries.
According to Cap Friendly, Toronto has only $130,527 in cap space at the deadline, which means the Leafs will have to move players down to the taxi squad to get as much cap space as possible before the deadline, move money out in the form of existing players on the roster, or get inventive by having another team retain cap space in a trade (as Toronto did last trade deadline with Vegas in the Robin Lehner deal).
The area where there continues to be the greatest concentration of trade speculation involves adding a top-six to top-nine forward to improve their depth up front. The Leafs want to increase their flexibility and options at forward, and the effectiveness of Pierre Engvall at third line center and the shift of Alex Kerfoot to the wing may make him a potential trade chip to clear his $3.5 million salary and for teams looking for help up the middle.
From an outside perspective, Toronto appears to need a forward with size that can provide the same physical elements that Simmonds does when in the lineup instead of a player with more skill, but it depends if their aim is to put their new addition on the wing with John Tavares and William Nylander or at center on the third line to move Engvall back to the wing.
Here are six potential trade targets based on the recent chatter:
Nick Foligno - The Toronto Sun’s Steve Simmons mentioned in his Sunday column that the Columbus team captain’s name keeps popping up. The Blue Jackets are fading in the Central playoff race, Foligno definitely fits the Leafs need of a heavy player with playoff experience, and there may be a fit with Kerfoot going the other way since GM Jarmo Kekalainen is looking for center help after dealing Pierre-Luc Dubois for Patrik Laine, but the 33-year-old has a no-movement clause and the only way waiving it makes sense is if the Blue Jackets are dragging their feet on a contract extension.
Mikael Granlund – Nashville is out of the playoff race after losing key players like Ryan Johansen, Matt Duchene, Ryan Ellis and Juuse Saros to injury. Toronto was interested in Granlund in the off-season, but he chose to re-sign with the Preds for $3.75 million on a one-year deal. The 29-year-old winger has the skill to play on the left side with Tavares, but the 5’10” 185 lb. forward has never produced in the playoffs with Minnesota or in Music City.
Eric Staal - The former Hurricanes team captain had four quality seasons in Minnesota before being traded to Buffalo for Marcus Johansson last September and can play center and left wing. There were rumors from the outset that Staal was upset about being moved by the Wild. The 36-year-old has not played well for the Sabres (3 goals, 5 assists in 23 games) and has not scored a goal in his last 15, but there might be something still left in the tank. Buffalo cannot demand a high price for him before the deadline, which make him an attractive get for the Leafs.
Bobby Ryan - The 2020 Masterton Trophy winner is leading a bad Red Wings club in scoring, but his most attractive quality is his $1 million cap hit. That likely means that most contenders with little cap space will be touching base with Steve Yzerman if they need a scoring winger. Not sure the Leafs would be willing to deal a prospect like Timothy Liljegren or a second rounder pick for the 33-year-old rental.
Nick Cousins - Cousins may be more of a bottom-six / fourth line forward option (which should make the price fairly reasonable). He makes $1.5 million this and next season, which means he can be exposed for expansion this summer (Toronto has to make two players available who have played at least 70 games that last two seasons). The 27-year-old is a physical forward who can play center or wing and is someone that both Dubas and Sheldon Keefe are familiar with going back to their days in Sault Ste. Marie.
Lawson Crouse - Crouse was signed to a two-year deal at slightly over $1.5 million per season after scoring 11 and 15 goals the last two seasons. This year, the 23-year-old winger has just one goal in 21 games. The 6’4” 220 lb. winger is pure crash and bang, but there might be something more there than meets the eye.
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