Seattle Kraken defender Ryker Evans could be a great asset for the Maple Leafs' blueline and with Toronto needing more mobility and balance he fits like a glove.
The Seattle Kraken are a mysterious team to say the least. They aren't exactly a bad team and have some great pieces but aren't really in that echelon of competitive teams. They went through a major front office overhaul, made some moves here and there but it seems like more of the same as we saw last season.
Again, they weren't bad but they are also having to deal with potential trade talks involving young centre Shane Wright and they need to figure out whether or not they are going to put any more stake into him or let him go. If so, that leaves them with one young player out of the picture with potentially more moves to come.
A stuffed blueline in Seattle may lead Ryker Evans right into Toronto
They are going to have a big veteran presence in the lineup and want to make sure they stay a little young, but they are also dealing with a bit of a logjam on the blueline that seemingly got lost in translation.
Right now, the Kraken have Ryan Lindgren, Vince Dunn, Josh Mahura and Ryker Evans on the left side of the blueline, and with only minimal spots available, one may be on the chopping block. Well, Toronto can ease their burden pretty quickly if they made a play for Evans.
Evans, 24, is a mobile, pass-first defender who is a self-proclaimed 'give-and-go' player which should excite fans. It would be a lot of fun to see him and Gavin McKenna or William Nylander use their speed to make some magic happen.
He's only appeared in 176 career games with 51 points but he also lost nearly one and a half minutes of ice-time this season despite putting up 17 points with a career-high 8 goals.
The former Regina Pats defender had a very good WHL career where he had 131 points in 195 games (25 goals, 106 assists) including a 61-point campaign in 2021-22 which included a whopping 96 PIM yet a plus-9.
He's a guy who can carry the puck out of his own zone and make offence happen, so he'd be a great second or third pairing quarterback who is a decade younger than Oliver Ekman-Larsson and makes only $2.050-million this season and is an RFA next summer.
Evans' fit is less to do with handedness and more a chance to build for the future
One aspect people will look at and ask is 'Isn't Evans a left-handed shot?'
Yes, and while the Maple Leafs are stocked up on those currently with Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe, Ekman-Larsson, Emil Andrae, and Dakota Mermis (depth) who are all lefties and you're adding another into the mix with Evans.
But that really isn't the point. It's about bringing in someone who can help you win now and five years down the line. He's young and will replace Ekman-Larsson who may or may not re-sign in two seasons, is heavily controllable, and there's always room for a mobile defender with goal-scoring potential.
Look at Toronto's potential defence in five years barring any blockbuster deals:
McCabe - Raddysh
Evans - Danford
Andrae - Borgesi/Chadwick
While that first line is certainly getting up there in age, the bottom-four are pretty solid. Evans can be the mobile puck-mover who can lead the transition after Danford shuts down the opposition.
Meanwhile Andrae is a very good puck-mover in his own right, is uber-physical, and also will have a young defender to help mentor in Vinny Borgesi or Noah Chadwick - who can help offensively too.
Depending on how things shape up, we could be looking at a very fast, very aggressive and very potent Maple Leafs defence in the coming years and if they add Evans to the fold it'll just make them even stronger.
Do you think Toronto should try and take a bet on Ryker Evans?
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