Avalanche Center Emerges as Potential Trade Deadline Target for the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs need help at center, but they also want to make sure they aren't a three month rental and could look to the Colorado Avalanche for assistance.
It's going to be a tough road ahead for the Maple Leafs going into the trade deadline. Not only is Brad Treliving under a lot of pressure to improve the team, but he has very slim options in terms of assets and might need to part with one of their top prospects.
A new report however has brought a new name into the fray and he would be a reliable solution to the Maple Leafs' center woes.
Toronto Should Try To Acquire Colorado's Casey Mittelstadt
Mittelstadt coming over to Toronto would be the second time in as many years that he was traded at the deadline. Acquired by Colorado for Bowen Byram (who himself is also a potential trade candidate), it seems the Avalanche might have some buyer's remorse.
Frank Seravalli writes:
Unlike Byram, Mittelstadt is at least under contract for two seasons beyond this one, so he would provide a little cost certainty moving forward.
He just hasn't quite been a fit, or as productive, in Jared Bednar's lineup and we're told the Avalanche are willing to shake things up if they can find the right deal."
If Colorado is willing to get rid of Mikko Rantanen, who knows what constitutes a right deal, however if the team is so lukewarm on him then a deal could be done.
He adds everything Toronto needs too; he scores goals, is a fantastic playmaker, is a solid faceoff man (though his numbers are down this season), has two more years left on his deal and give them a solid power play contributor.
This season, he has nine goals and 23 assists in 54 games while also shooting at a high volume, which is something Toronto needs help with especially on their third line.
A caveat would be his contract as he's in the first year of his three-year, $17.25M deal signed last season, and it feels like a bit of an overpayment. Colorado could retain some salary in the deal and they have two retention slots left.
A potential deal could look like this:
To Toronto Maple Leafs
(C) Casey Mittelstadt (COL retains 25% salary)
(D) Oliver Kylington
To Colorado Avalanche
(F) Easton Cowan
(F) Nick Robertson
(D) Topi Niemala
2026 3rd Round Pick
It hurts to see Cowan go, but Colorado is looking to strengthen their farm system and he'll be highly coveted in any deal. He's still a wild card though, and there's never a guarantee that his skillset will translate to the NHL level (though the potential is tantalizing).
Robertson gets a fresh start in Colorado and could find his offensive spark there, and might be given a more prominent role given the loss of Rantanen. He's seemingly fallen out of favor with Toronto and its fans, and he's been the subject of trade talks all year.
Niemala is a prospect who has really never gotten a chance to showcase what he can do, and with a shift in management it's unlikely he will. Undersized and not fitting the current game plan, he needs a change of scenery.
Toronto adds Kylington as insurance depth, and the defenseman is only costing them $1M and is a free agent; a cheap option to help especially with their sketchy injury history (though he also just returned as well).
With the team looking to get some type of deal done, there's no shortage of options available. Hidden in there though is a real gem in Casey Mittelstadt; it's only going to cost them their potential future.
