The Toronto Maple Leafs are believed to be searching for another center (as per The Fourth Period). General manager Brad Treliving has been hoping to upgrade the second-line center position for some time now and is looking at potential options to do so. With the holiday trade freeze set to start on Friday, it doesn’t appear likely that a deal will be made in 2024, but Toronto is searching the market for a potential fit. Any move that they make will require a lot of creativity as Toronto doesn’t have a first-round pick this year, although they do hold their second and third-rounders.
Toronto may just have to wait until closer to the NHL trade deadline to make a deal happen as they will have just under $2.3MM available to them at that time (as per PuckPedia). The Maple Leafs could potentially look at a player like Brock Nelson of the New York Islanders, who is in the final year of his deal and is making $6MM. Toronto would need New York to retain on a deal and take a salary back, but those are the types of transactions Treliving could target.
In other evening notes:
- Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson left today’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes with an upper-body injury and did not return (Twitter Link). The 37-year-old took a stick to the face from Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi in the first period and did not return at the start of the second period. Kotkaniemi was assessed a four-minute double minor on the play. Johnson has dressed in 17 games this season, averaging just over 14 minutes of ice time per game and tallying one assist.
- Aaron Portzline of The Athletic spoke with Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jacob Trouba about his recent trade and why he declined to facilitate a trade to the Columbus Blue Jackets. Trouba was dealt by the New York Rangers to Anaheim, but had other suitors, including Columbus. Trouba told Portzline that there were no issues with Columbus, but he felt Anaheim would be a better fit for him and his wife, as well as her career as a doctor.