Report: Maple Leafs Defenseman Could Be on the Move
Photo credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images
According to The Athletic's James Mirtle, the Toronto Maple Leafs may decide to move on from one of their other defensive players in order to add offense at the back.
With the season creeping up on the Maple Leafs, they don't have a lot of time to get an adequate deal done in order to bring in top-sis help, and it's going to be even harder to find deals for their expendable forwards like David Kampf.
They still need top-six help, and they certainly need another puck mover on the back end, as Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson are serviceable, but are in danger of regressing and aren't exactly spring chickens.
What the Insider Reported About the Maple Leafs Blue Line
Which is why they may need to deal from their excess according to Maple Leafs insider and The Athletic contributor James Mirtle.
In his recent article, Mirtle explained that the Leafs might be willing to deal from their group of defensive players in order to add more offense and bring in that true PP quarterback and transitional offensive player:
They'd like to somehow get another puck mover back there, which would mean moving one of the more defensive types out.
That means that someone like a Brandon Carlo or Simon Benoit could be on the move, and with enough pieces available to cover for any depth issues (Dakota Mermis, Philippe Myers, Henry Thrun) then it might be worth making a trade.
Why Moving a Defenseman Could Open the Door for a Puck-Moving Addition
The Leafs have been linked to several names who could help out like Erik Karlsson, Bowen Byram, and Dougie Hamilton; though their costs are definitely up their in price.
For all that Toronto did to improve their defense as a whole and create a much more difficult group to play against, there still needs to be offense generated from the blueline and if Rielly isn't going to come back to where he was previously, it's going to facilitate a move.
We heard reports that Toronto would be willing to deal Carlo, and though they gave up Fraser Minten and a first for him, and he's only been here a few months; when push comes to shove you have to do something.
Depth isn't an issue, and Toronto has more than enough bodies at the NHL level, not to mention William Villeneuve, John Prokop, Cade Webber, and Noah Chadwick all ready to come in within the next couple years; so why not strike now?
If there's two places the Maple Leafs can take from in order to get a deal done is their defense and goaltending, and the latter seems to be a bit more of a priority in terms of long-term outlook, so they can afford to trade someone without hurting their future when it comes to defense.
So maybe Toronto should consider trading a bit of defensive acumen for the chance to finally bring in someone who can be what Morgan Rielly was supposed to keep being.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 5 | 1461 ANSWERS Report: Maple Leafs Defenseman Could Be on the Move Do you think Toronto should trade one of their defensive defensemen for an offensive defender? | ||
| Yes | 853 | 58.4 % |
| No | 608 | 41.6 % |
| List of polls | ||