Rugged Forward Suddenly Looks Like Perfect Fit for the Maple Leafs' Roster Shuffle

With rumors and discussions around who the Maple Leafs could bring in to add that little extra punch to the lineup, they have been linked to about a dozen or so names that range from cheap, to expensive; role-player to superstar.

They don't have much money to deal with and certainly don't have the roster space until they make a deal for one of their expendable forwards, but once that gets sorted out, they have the ability to make a move.

So they could certainly go after someone like Jack Roslovic, who has been heavily linked to the Maple Leafs in recent weeks, and is still without a deal. However, there are a few under the radar options the team could go after including center Klim Kostin.

The 6'4, 232-pound center is the prototypical Craig Berube/Brad Treliving player and while he isn't going to offer a tom of offensive help in the bottom half of the lineup, he can certainly add more physicality and give them yet another humongous weapon to use when they need to.

Kostin, 26, was drafted 31st overall in 2017 by the St. Louis Blues, and has experience playing under Berube, and seemed to do fairly well in a depth role for the club.

In his 190 career games, Kostin has 53 points (25 goals, 28 assists) but averages 208 hits per 82-games; he's a beast on skates and while he wouldn't be a defensive wizard, he can certainly take over for David Kampf with Scott Laughton and Steven Lorentz flanking him on the fourth line.

Or we could see the team go into an uber physical fourth line and see Michael Pezzetta, Kostin and Lorentz or even Dakota Joshua in order to instil some real fear into the opposition, and still gives the team a bit of offense to boot.

Plus, he's a center, and we know how Toronto needs a surplus of them at any given moment, and while he's not the greatest face-off guy, he's a physical and gritty player who won't mind getting a bit nasty when it comes to it.

Though you wouldn't really call him an enforcer, Kostin isn't afraid of dropping the gloves, and if he were to come aboard, that would suddenly give Toronto a trio of fighters (Kostin, Pezzetta, Joshua) and who could seriously change the dynamic come playoff time.

Also not for nothing, but in his brief time in the playoffs (15 games) he does have five points and added 38 hits in that span and was quietly a good addition to Edmonton's bottom-six.

With the amount of flexibility Toronto already has, adding Kostin to the lineup just boosts that even more. With his experience in a Craig Berube system, his size, youth, and quietly good playoff numbers make Klim Kostin a solid option for Brad Treliving.

If he can find the room, that is.