James Mirtle Reports the Toronto Maple Leafs are Aggressively Pursuing a Center
NHL Insider James Mirtle reports that the Toronto Maple Leafs are looking to add a center before the deadline and they are working hard to make it happen.
It's no secret the Toronto Maple Leafs are are going to eventually make a trade not only because they need to bring is some proper defensively sound pieces, but their roster needs some shuffling in order to fit everyone in.
With many names speculated from the expensive to the frugal, GM Brad Treliving has a variety of options, although he has missed out on a couple. One NHL Insider who believes that Treliving will be aggressive is James Mirtle of The Athletic.
The prominent insider spoke on the JD Bunkis podcast and believes the Leafs are going to not only be seeking out a center, but they are going to be extremely aggressive when doing so:
Brad Treliving's Time Is Ticking
The amount of success the Maple Leafs have had are largely in part to their superstars, defense, and goaltending. It look a third of the year for the bottom half to start at least producing a bit, and it's been a concern all season they won't have enough depth.
But they are logjammed with forwards so depth is not the issue. The issue is the quality of their depth, and players like Pontus Holmberg while great, are often too inconsistent and not the impactful type of game that Toronto needs come playoff time.
The cheap options don't jump off the page in terms of name value but the players they could bring in would definitely help. Juuso Parssinen, Brandon Tanev, even Christian Dvorak could bring that size and stability needed to the third line; though Tanev would be more of a winger.
Looking aggressively also means that Treliving needs to make sure he does his homework and not overpay for a player who could make an impact but not for the price given up.
It will be interesting to see how the Maple Leafs go about their trade deadline, and with a roster freeze coming up very soon, the team will either make a move now or have to wait a bit until they find their missing piece of their playoff puzzle.
