Elliotte Friedman suggests Erik Karlsson is going to the Maple Leafs

With the Maple Leafs needing an upgrade on the blue line, Elliotte Friedman believes they could go after Erik Karlsson thanks to who they added this summer.

Suffice to say the Maple Leafs' injury issues have hit the blue line hard this year. Chris Tanev is out for the foreseeable future, Jake McCabe just left Tuesday's game with a scary-looking injury, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson has already left two games this season.

They not only need to get better on the blue line but they need people who can actually stay there, and while they have been connected to names like Zach Whitecloud, their praise may be too high for the Maple Leafs to pay.

Friedman believes Karlsson could come north to the Maple Leafs

But there's one name who has popped up over the last couple of seasons as a potential target for Toronto, and that's Erik Karlsson. The future Hall of Famer is still an elite offensive defenseman who can still provide above-average defense each night.

And according to Elliotte Friedman, the team may be very interested - and Karlsson may be too due to one important factor:

One thing about Erik Karlsson that's really interesting...one of my guys has a theory out there that because Daniel Alfredsson's in Toronto, Karlsson's gonna end up there.

Karlsson and Alfredsson are very well acquainted not only as two of the greatest Swedish players of all time but the two also played together in Ottawa as well as part of Sweden's international team.

This season Karlsson has 11 points in 10 games for the Penguins while also averaging over 23 minutes of ice time and adding five power play points. Even at 36 he's still producing at a high rate, and if anyone knows what he can bring to the table it's Alfredsson.

For his career, Karlsson has 947 points in 1,168 games, has won three Norris Trophies, and sits 12th all-time in NHL history in points for a defenseman, needing only two points to pass Chris Chelios and Brent Burns - though he is still active so both men will be neck and neck all year.

Does Karlsson make the Maple Leafs into playoff contenders?

He would fit seamlessly as the quarterback on the PP and his elite vision and playmaking would make Auston Matthews and William Nylander even more deadly, and perhaps the team can run with a traditional two-D pair of Rielly and Raddysh on the second PP and utilize their potential chemistry on the man advantage.

But it becomes a question of a) who's going the other way to Pittsburgh and b) does Karlsson move the needle enough for Toronto to be competitive?

In terms of the first question, it's likely that Kyle Dubas has a variety of names in mind, but don't be surprised to see names like William Villeneuve going the other way - former Dubas draft picks. The Maple Leafs may ask for salary retention which drives up the price, though they could hope to persuade their former GM with some draft capital instead of another player.

Question two is harder to answer and only can be if he plays for Toronto. We won't know how he'll fit until he gets into the lineup but if you were to answer on resume and face value alone - yes, but it still keeps the blue line the oldest in the league.

Karlsson has been bandied about as a trade target for the Maple Leafs for years, but this might finally be the season he finds himself in blue and white.

Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Maple Leafs trade talks involving Simon Edvinsson take a sudden turn