With the Maple Leafs looking for insurance on the back end, there are two names who haven't been talked about much who could make a big difference.
As the Maple Leafs look for help on their blue line they have had no shortage of potential options. There are stars like Erik Karlsson and Simon Edvinsson who would cost a lot but make a huge improvement, meanwhile there are smaller names like Adam Pelech who while a quieter player - is a a great shutdown piece.
But there are many others that could help Toronto, and it looked like they were getting as much intel as possible as they had scouts checking out two separate games between Chicago/Los Angeles and Philadelphia/Columbus.
Two cheap, underrated options emerge for the Maple Leafs blue line
We touched on a couple of players who could be targets for GM John Chayka however two new names have popped up who are cheap, come with term, are in their prime and offer the exact level of shutdown help the team needs.
Two players who make a lot of sense for Toronto given the teams they were scouting are Cam York and Mikey Anderson - playing with Philadelphia and Los Angeles respectively.
York, 25, is a former 14th overall pick who has averaged 11 points, 81 blocks, and 32 hits with a career average ice time of 21:19. He's a minutes-muncher who can add some more mobility, kill penalties, even more speed, and a tinge of offensive production - scoring 10 goals in 2023-24.
Signed until 2030 with a cap hit of $5.15M per season, York isn't really an expensive piece especially compared to some of the deals the Maple Leafs have on the blue line, and he gives them someone a decade younger than half the pairings.
Anderson, 27, is pretty much the same player as York. For his career he's averaged 13 points, 86 blocks, and nearly 93 hits with 21:03 TOI, so you're getting roughly the same amount of production.
Signed until 2031 with a cap hit of $4.25M per season, Anderson would be a cheaper version of York (albeit a couple years older) and comes with no trade protection, so it would be a little bit easier to acquire him.
You won't need to break the bank for either one of them, and given that both the Flyers and Kings are struggling to start the year, they may be willing to part with some of their pieces in order to rebuild or retool.
If so, then the Maple Leafs can end up giving away mid-tier assets like second or third-round picks, or prospects like William Villeneuve, Noah Chadwick, or Vinny Borgesi.
The team would also need to send some money out due to the tagging rules, but Oliver Ekman-Larsson is the perfect piece to add to offset the financial aspect and get rid of a regressing player.
While York and Anderson may not move the needle like John Chayka would like, they do offer a lot more stability and consistency in the defensive end. Right now, that's a more pressing concern than a blockbuster deal - so maybe it's time to pick up the phone.
Which player should the Maple Leafs try and acquire via trade?
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