Once the roster freeze across the league is lifted on Thursday morning, it will mark the unofficial start to trade season in the NHL calendar. Up to this point, much has been made of the potential trade targets for the Toronto Maple Leafs, primarily centered around veteran defenseman Chris Tanev, currently with the Calgary Flames.
Instead of sorting through potential targets, Jonas Siegel of The Athletic wrote an article (subscription required article) examining the assets currently available to the Maple Leafs they will have to offer in any deal leading up to the trade deadline. Given the team’s current positioning in the standings and their liberal usage of draft selections in the past, Toronto’s first-round draft pick in the 2024 NHL Draft will likely be in play.
However, given the team’s recent history of trading first-round draft picks, there should be some considerable internal pushback in moving the asset once again. Since 2019, the Maple Leafs have used their first-round pick to acquire Jake Muzzin (2019), Nick Foligno (2021), Ryan O’Reilly (2023), Noel Acciari (2023), Jake McCabe (2025), and Sam Lafferty (2025). The team also traded their 2020 first-round selection to move Patrick Marleau to the Carolina Hurricanes, and their 2022 first-round selection to move Petr Mrazek to the Chicago Blackhawks.
Of the six players acquired by Toronto for first-round draft picks in the last six seasons, only one of them (McCabe) is still in the organization, as the rest have moved on to different organizations, or have seen their careers end. Keeping this in mind, if the Maple Leafs are to use their 2024 first-round draft pick as leverage for a trade this season, they would be much better served in acquiring a player with term.
Other notes:
- Heavily linked to Calgary center, Elias Lindholm, Jimmy Murphy of Boston Hockey Now indicates if the price for Lindholm remains high, the Boston Bruins may look to a recent trading partner in the Chicago Blackhawks to improve down the middle of the ice (article link). Murphy indicates that shortly after the roster freeze is lifted, Chicago will make center Tyler Johnson available for trade, also being able to retain salary in the deal. With a high amount of injury concern attached, Johnson may still be an effective buy-low middle-six option for the Bruins.
- After the recent extension given to defenseman Ben Hutton, Ken Boehlke of SinBin reports that more changes may be coming to the blue line of the Vegas Golden Knights. With seven defensemen already on the active roster, and with Shea Theodore and Kaedan Korczak both expected back at some point, Boehlke notes the Golden Knights may be inclined to move out defenseman Alec Martinez. The moving out of Martinez would open up space in the defensive core as well as cap space for an additional upgrade elsewhere.
Great documentation of the ridiculousness that is Toronto management, They are chasing the cup much like a degenerate gambler would chase a days worth of bad wagering just to see the hole get larger and larger.
yes but a new GM in place. who knows if he moves it, moves it for a player with term, a rental or to dump a contract.
lol, well said!
Maybe Toronto offers up Tavares to Chicago for Seth Jones? ;)
Could do. Of course, Tavares would likely veto that trade.
And maybe they offer Matthews for Bedard. Odds are the players with NMC’s say thanks but no thanks.
The Jones family has made it clear they wish to remain in American markets, more specifically Trump markets if their mothers statements during the locked down seasons are to be trusted.
Would some of the proposals make sense without NMC’s, sure. But majority of the contracts being discussed have extras that make them tough to deal or deal with.
Not every deal that makes sense for the teams makes sense for the players.
Vegas has had Martinez up for sale for quite awhile; what will they add to get someone to take him? As to Toronto it makes sense to move that first plus picks & prospect for a Hanifin type w/ an extension attached (but all indications are he wants to play south side) but so many other pieces need to go to fit him in cap-wise. While Brodie is gone after this year, Nylanders next contract mucks it up… better to hit Columbus up for a veteran D not named Gudbrandson… Kings, Canucks logical landing spots for Tanev, & I wouldn’t wait too long because he’s due for an injury…
The Leafs just never learn. Trading for a 34 year old…how many times have we seen this not work with them?
Beyond that, I’m of the opinion that the members of the Chris Tanev bandwagon needs to lay off of the booze. He’s a decent defensive defenseman, but he brings zero offense to the table, and it’s not as if he’s a Rod Langway. I’m a Bruins fan, so I’m absolutely fine with Toronto badly overpaying for a spearcarrier (because of *course* a mere 17-8-6 record is time to panic), but I doubt there are many sane fans in the GTA enthused about the premise.
The advanced stats guys claim Chris Tanev is a defense god. Obviously with 22 goals over 10 seasons you aren’t acquiring him for much else.
I wouldn’t put much stock into anything Jimmy Murphy says. But in the article linked, it says nothing of Chicago making Johnson available via trade… Even saying “The read here is zero”.
(nods) Ten years ago, Tyler Johnson would’ve been a good guy to get in a trade. Right now? Which centers on Boston’s roster can anyone claim he’s outperforming, besides Beecher? If I’m trading for someone to replace, say, Poitras in the line up, I want someone who’s clearly BETTER than Poitras. Sheesh.
Not many Dmen as effective at shot blocking as Martinez is. Beware what you’d be losing by moving him.
@Gbear — We also need to add #8 in CGY. Both guys are flat-out machines when it comes to that ability.
We have played great without him. His ability is slowing down more and more. We’ll be fine if we move him.
Haven’t played so great in the past 3 games. ;)