How a Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs trade could benefit both sides

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Chris Gerics
September 27, 2024 (10:07)

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The Toronto Maple Leafs and Philadelphia Flyers have been rivals for years, but they could come to an agreement in order to complete a trade that would benefit both.

The questions surrounding Toronto's cap situation and who they could possibly get rid of in order to save some money. Some names floating around are Calle Jarnkrok, David Kampf, Ryan Reaves, and Timothy Liljegren; all players who are making too much money to justify their output, especially at their current ages (minus Liljegren, the average age of the other three is 33) and are not worth the combined $8.8M dollars Toronto is paying them. It's a bit egregious to pay these players so much, and both current GM Brad Treliving and former GM Kyle Dubas need to garner some of the blame for the position the Maple Leafs are in.

The Philadelphia Flyers are a team on the cusp of breaking out and being a perennial playoff contender. They finished four points out of a playoff spot last season and with names like Sean Couturier, Travis Konecny, Owen Tippett, Morgan Frost, and 2024 Draft pick Matvei Michkov; there's no telling how good this team could be. But they do need a little bit of help being a younger team, and there's a variety of avenues the team could use to give themselves a bit more of a veteran presence in the locker room.

How's about trading with Toronto sound? The Maple Leafs need some more draft capital, only holding four picks this upcoming draft, with their best being Florida's 2nd rounder. They don't have much in the way of picks and could take advantage of Philadelphia's $3M+ in cap space to shed salary and regain some picks. Toronto also needs a true 3C, and with the Maple Leafs moving to a 1A, 1B, 2, 3 lineup (They have enough talent their lines could be classified as two top lines, a traditional second and the final line provides the grit); they need that stability.

So with all that being said, what would a trade between the two look like?

Toronto acquires:

Scott Laughton (C)
2025 1st Round Pick (COL)
2025 2nd Round Pick (ANA)

Philadelphia acquires:

Timothy Liljegren (D)
Calle Jarnkrok (F)
2027 3rd Round Pick

Toronto would be dumping $5.1M in salary to a Philadelphia team with the cap space and most of their team already locked up in contracts. Toronto would get about $1M extra in cap space in addition to a true 3C and some draft picks meanwhile Philadelphia gets two veterans (including a still young defenseman with big potential) and a low pick in as a bit of a sweetener.

Laughton, a versatile defensive center, has found himself with a very solid career for the Flyers, and while he necessarily isn't the goal scorer of the ilk of Auston Matthews, he's still able to put the puck in the net and had a career high 43 points in 2022-2023. Not too shabby for a defensive center; and speaking of defense he has been consistent in terms of both giveaways and takeaways, has a near 50% faceoff percentage for his career, 334 blocked shots and over 1100 hits in his 11 year career.

On top of that he's making as much as Lilegren with double the value. He's what Toronto desperately needs as a true center and would be a huge improvement over David Kampf and even PTO signee Steven Lorentz. He is also a wonderful veteran presence in the locker room and the Maple Leafs could always use more of that.

Going the other way is Liljegren and Jarkrok, two players who have seen their roster spot in Toronto slowly being taken by other players like Max Pacioretty and Jani Hakanpaa. Liljegren, drafted 17th overall by Toronto in 2017 hasn't been the elite offensive producer the Leafs hoped for when they drafted him. He only has 65 points in 196 NHL games and was taken over names such as Robert Thomas, Morgan Frost, and Eeli Tolvanen. He has been a defensive liability for Toronto, and has an atrocious 40 takeaways to 127 giveaways for his career; proving he's not reached the level needed to succeed at the highest level. Jarnkrok, an 11-year veteran much like Laughton, has found himself onthe outside looking in for the Maple Leafs.

The addition of Max Pacioretty and the emergence of Fraser Minten, Easton Cowan and Nikita Grebenkin have all made Jarnkrok expendable. He costs $2.1M for unspectacular numbers, and while he is only a couple years removed from a 20 goal season, he's still two years older than Laughton with worse production.

The picks going the other way aren't anything crazy given the Colorado pick is going to be a late one, and Anaheim's pick could be used as a bargaining chip for another trade; Toronto's 3rd Rounder going the other way is just to try and give a bit of capital back without sacrificing too much.

The Maple Leafs need to shed some cap and with their recent sudden logjam of wingers, they can afford to dump some salary in order to gain a key piece for their team. Philadelphia can offer two veterans some solid and consistent minutes and in the case of Liljegren, hopefully allow him to blossom and flourish into the offensive dynamo he was intended to be.

Both teams could take advantage of each other and create a bit of harmony together even after years of a hard fought rivalry, and both could gain something that would bring them success either in the short-term or long-term and really, isn't that the goal?