Maple Leafs Must Capitalize on These Three Desperate Teams This Offseason
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
If Toronto wants to make their team better, they need to make sure they take advantage of Carolina, Anaheim, and Columbus' desperation to make changes themselves.
With the offseason looking to kick into full gear in the coming weeks, the Maple Leafs and GM Brad Treliving are going to be focused long and hard on how to improve the team and figure out some type of replacement for Mitch Marner and potentially John Tavares.
There are some other teams looking to make some changes, and with that yearning for change might come with some extra desperation. So that means that GM Brad Treliving needs to take a look at three teams who might wanna shake things up.
Carolina, Columbus, Anaheim all looking to make changes; Toronto needs to take advantage
According to The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta, the Hurricanes, Blue Jackets and Ducks are all looking to be aggressive this upcoming summer, which means they may need to make some room; and Toronto needs to jump on that.
But who exactly should the Maple Leafs target?
Carolina Hurricanes: William Carrier
Carrier, 30, is a bruising power forward who fits perfectly in the bottom half of the lineup for Craig Berube.
At 6'2, 220 pounds, he's a freight train on the ice, and has hit triple digits in all but one season. His best season came in 2018-19 when he had 277 hits; in 456 games he has 118 points (62G, 56A) but isn't known as an offensive player by any means.
What's also great about Carrier is that while he punishes players with hits, he's smart with how he dishes out that punishment and doesn't take bad penalties.
Plus, he's dirt cheap. At only $2M for the next five seasons, he's a budget bottom-six option who can certainly bring some new DNA into the team; plus he won't really cost that much from Carolina.
Columbus Blue Jackets: Boone Jenner
Jenner, 32, is much more offensively gifted than Carrier, having scored 20+ goals three seasons in a row prior to 2024-25, but he's also able to bring a lot of physicality.
Also 6'2, he plays center and plays it well. Known for being a very solid face-off man (54% for his career), he's exactly the two-way presence that Craig Berube wants on his team that he couldn't get out of Max Domi or Calle Jarnkrok.
In 741 games, Jenner has 383 points (199G, 184A) but has also added 1,661 hits, 716 blocks and has a better takeaway to giveaway ratio (329:273).
Fitting in perfectly on Toronto's third line, he would be able to give them a boost offensively while allowing them to both move on from David Kämpf and slot Scott Laughton into the fourth line role.
Columbus might want to keep him given he's a cheap option at only $3.75M and is a free agent next summer; plus he's their captain.
But if they are trying to make big moves for players like Mitch Marner or Brock Boeser; they need as much cap as possible.
Anaheim Ducks: Mason McTavish
Lastly, the team with the most intrigue coming into free agency also brings the most intriguing acquisition.
Toronto should look to bring in Mason McTavish and immediately throw him into their 2C. He's 22, a huge presence at 6'1, 219 pounds, wins face-offs, improved dramatically on defense and is a potential 30-goal, 70-point player.
Having only played in three seasons thus far, McTavish has 140 points in 229 games (60G, 80A) with 170 PIM as well as 200 hits, 107 blocks and a 48.6% face-off win percentage.
However, he's going to cost a lot. A restricted free agent, McTavish is either going to be traded away for a heavy package (that could include Easton Cowan going the other way) or signed to a very lucrative offer sheet.
While adding him to the team no doubt gives them two incredible young talents to build around with their steady stream of veterans, it might end up stinging a bit when it comes to the cost.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 16 | 417 ANSWERS Maple Leafs Must Capitalize on These Three Desperate Teams This Offseason Which team should Toronto target this upcoming offseason? | ||
| Carolina | 128 | 30.7 % |
| Columbus | 67 | 16.1 % |
| Anaheim | 93 | 22.3 % |
| Other | 129 | 30.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
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