Trade Proposal That Will Transform The Maple Leafs Into Contenders

The further along we get into this season the more likely it becomes that the Flames will be sellers at the trade deadline if not sooner. One Flames player, defenseman Nikita Zadorov has already requested a trade thanks to the organizations ineptitude.

However, Zadorov is not the only Flames blueliner that could be on the move. At this point, it seems likely that the team will be moving multiple players at each position as the Flames could be tearing it all down and starting over. One player that could get the team a decent amount of value in return would be defenseman Mackenzie Weegar.

Weegar has been one of the few bright spots for Calgary this season. Through 15 games he has 2 goals and 4 assists for 6 points. Furthermore, his advanced stats are quite good despite playing on a poor team. His corsi for parentage at even strength is 54.8 percent, 2.1 percent better than the team without him on the ice. Weegar also brings a veteran presence and mentality. He is clearly a leader on and off the ice as can be seen in his post game interviews.

The main problem with Weegar for the Leafs is his cap hit. The blueliner currently has a cap hit of 6.25 million dollars and he's signed all the way through 2030-31. Moving such a contract would be extremely complicated, especially for a Leafs team that is right up against the salary cap. The Flames would be unlikely to want to retain much salary on such a long deal and getting a 3rd team to do that could prove to be very costly.

That being said, the move would be a massive upgrade on the back end for the Leafs. Salary would have to go the other way with one potential option being John Klingberg, who has been terrible for the Leafs this season. The team may have to pay a little extra to get the Flames to accept Klingberg, but as they are not looking to be competitive this year, a deal should be possible if Brad Treliving wants it enough.

As seen on The Blockbuster Trade to Transform the Toronto Maple Leafs