The Maple Leafs are not hunting for a quick fix.
After another loss dropped Toronto to 3-4-2 and left the club in last place in the Atlantic Division, Elliotte Friedman said on the latest edition of Saturday Headlines that the Leafs are prepared to chase a bigger swing on the blue line. According to Friedman, general manager John Chayka is willing to part with a “premium asset” if the return is a “difference-maker” on defense.
“They’ve made it very clear they are not interested in a Band-Aid solution,” Friedman said, making clear Toronto does not want to pay top price for a lesser piece. The Leafs, he added, won’t move what they view as A assets for a B-level replacement.
That leaves the market wide open, and the list of possible trade chips is already starting to take shape. The first-round pick the Leafs acquired from the Colorado Avalanche in the Nic Roy trade is viewed as a possible piece of a deal, while young players and prospects including Easton Cowan, Ben Danford, Tinus Luc Koblar and Tyler Hopkins could also interest other teams.
Darren Dreger backed up the general idea, saying Toronto is not looking for a depth defenseman but someone who can “move the needle.”
The other part of Friedman’s report was just as revealing: the Leafs would like to get younger.
Toronto has indicated it would be open to dealing an “older guy for a younger” player, which could make it less likely that prospects such as Cowan or Danford are moved. If the Leafs are serious about lowering the average age of the roster, players like Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Jake McCabe and Troy Stecher would seem more likely to come up in trade talks, along with other skaters in their 30s.
That is where things get complicated. Several of those players carry trade protection, and even when there is interest, getting a deal done is another matter entirely.
Toronto’s defense has been one of the oldest in the NHL, and the lack of mobility was apparent even before Chris Tanev’s injury. More mobile defensemen are clearly on the wish list, but Friedman’s report also made the reality obvious: those players are rare, and the ones available are not easy to pry loose.
Zach Whitecloud of Calgary has been mentioned as a possible target, though he does not fit the young, game-changing profile Toronto appears to want. And with the Leafs already having moved their biggest trade chip when they dealt Matthew Knies, rival teams are unlikely to make life easy by taking on Toronto’s older contracts just to help them out.
So while the specifics remain murky, the direction is now clearer. The Maple Leafs are aiming higher than a patch job, and they want the kind of move that changes the look of their blue line.
In Other News...
Maple Leafs Face A Costly Trade Dilemma On Defense
The Maple Leafs are still working the phones as they look for help on the blue line, with general manager John Chayka reportedly in trade discussions involving the Detroit Red Wings and Carolina Hurricanes. The names being floated are Simon Edvinsson and Alexander Nikishin, two defensemen whose contract situations have pushed their teams into a more complicated spot and opened the door to serious conversations.
For Toronto, the appeal is clear: these are the kinds of younger defensemen who can change the look of a back end, even if getting one would not come cheaply. The club is weighing future assets, but there is also a belief a deal might require roster players going the other way, which would make any move more painful in the short term and more consequential for the current lineup. [Read more 🡒]
Leafs Drop A Third Straight As One Offensive Problem Stands Out
After a 4-1 loss to the Islanders, Jim Hiller spent a good deal of time on the Maple Leafs offense, or more accurately, the lack of it. Toronto has now dropped three straight, and the coach pointed to the Islanders defensive structure as a major reason the Leafs could not create much of anything, even if he still felt the groups spirit remained intact through the skid.
The bigger concern is how the attack has looked against teams willing to sit in and make the game uncomfortable. Hiller did not have a fresh update on Chris Tanev beyond saying the defenseman skated in the morning, and while he also spoke about Sergei Bobrovskys performance and Gavin McKennas effort, the conversation kept circling back to the same problem: Toronto is not generating enough when the game tightens up. [Read more 🡒]
Sabres Suddenly Have A Goalie Market Twist Worth Watching
With the season still young, the Maple Leafs are already being linked to the kind of trade talk that tends to linger around a team with real expectations. Toronto has been described as a club looking for a meaningful upgrade on defense, and the buzz around the league suggests it is willing to pay up if the right player becomes available. That puts them squarely in the middle of a market that could shift quickly if a few other situations around the NHL break the right way.
One of those situations now involves a goalie storyline that could ripple beyond Winnipeg, where Connor Hellebuycks suspension is set to end on October 23. If his return turns messy, it only adds another layer of unpredictability to a market already featuring Dylan Larkins reported trade request in Detroit and the possibility that a deal there may be close. For Toronto, the takeaway is simple enough: the front office may not have to wait long before the trade landscape starts offering real options. [Read more 🡒]