At his end-of-season press conference, the Leafs' general manager Brad Treliving made it clear that filling the holes on the blue line would once again be a priority.
With a few players expected to leave the organization, such as T.J. Brodie, Mark Giordano, Joel Edmundson, and Ilya Lyubushkin, Treliving will be busy.
While we could see Edmundson and Lyubushkin reaching a deal with the Leafs, Brodie and Giordano likely played their last game with the Leafs.
Friedman, probably the most renowned NHL insider in the business, named five players that could help Treliving achieve his goal of revamping the defensive unit.
According to him, he believes the Leafs will be interested in Nikita Zadorov, Chris Tanev, Brandon Montour, Brett Pesce, and Sean Walker.
In the end, the Leafs are likely to add two defensemen among them. Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov already have ties with Treliving. The Leafs' GM signed both players in Calgary when he was working with the Flames.
Source: Maple Leafs DailyFriedman lists the 5 UFA defensemen that the Maple Leafs are expected to pursue
POLL | ||
14 JUIN | 452 ANSWERS Elliotte Friedman shares 5 UFA defensemen the Maple Leafs are likely to pursue Which of these defensemen do you think Brad Treliving and the Toronto Maple Leafs will sign in free agency? | ||
Nikita Zadorov | 186 | 41.2 % |
Chris Tanev | 89 | 19.7 % |
Sean Walker | 47 | 10.4 % |
Brandon Montour | 130 | 28.8 % |
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