Maple Leafs Eye Backup Plan as Top Trade Target at Risk of Slipping Away
The Toronto Maple Leafs may be forced to adapt if they can't find the right option in the trade market, and this may be a boost to John Tavares.
It's been no secret that Brad Treliving and the Toronto Maple Leafs are planning to buy at the NHL trade deadline, which the team has consistently done the past few years to get over the playoff hump.
According to David Pagnotta of 'The Fourth Period', the Toronto Maple Leafs are looking at potential trade options for an inexpensive second line center.
If the Leafs cannot find the right option, they may choose to pivot to keeping John Tavares at center on the second line, and look for a "defensively responsible" left winger who can find the back of the net.
Will John Tavares Stay As The Leafs #2 Center?
Tavares has looked like a much stronger player from last season where it looked like we were starting to see Tavares begin his natural descent with age and time, this season has been a different story.
Currently, Tavares is once again close to a point-per-game player, with 15 goals and 29 points in 31 games played for the Toronto Maple Leafs this season.
The team will want to get a bit of a youth down the middle with Tavares now 34-years-old and unsigned past this season, although likely Tavares will be extended by Toronto eventually.
Potential Forward Options For The Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs have been linked to a few players as of recent. One popular name that has popped up in reports is former Maple Leaf Ryan O'Reilly, currently with Nashville.
O'Reilly has seven goals and 18 points in 30 games for Toronto this season.
He's a solid center option with experience in the Leafs system and won a Stanley Cup with Craig Berube in 2018-19.
One potential problem, Predators GM Barry Trotz has stated he doesn't plan to be a seller even with Nashville in last place.
O'Reilly doesn't satisfy Toronto's need for youth however. One young option that has been reported as a potential exit from Nashville is 23-year-old Center Juuso Parssinen.
Unlike O'Reilly, he isn't an experienced top-six option. Parssinen has two goals and five points in 15 games this season for the struggling Preds.
One name who was linked to Toronto by NHL analyst Paul Bissonnette is Flyers center Scott Laughton.
Laughton has seven goals and 16 points in 33 games played with Philadelphia this season.
He's still young at 30 and is making $3M until next season.
Another potential option could be fellow Philly forward Morgan Frost. The 25-year-old has four goals and 13 points in 29 points.
Frost makes just $2.1M until this season and would be a great story that comes full circle, bringing Frost back to the place where his father Andy made a legendary name for himself as the voice of the Air Canada Center and now Scotiabank Arena.
None have played as dominant as John Tavares, but in the long term could be options to impact the Toronto Maple Leafs in the future and could offer Toronto a solution should they be unable to keep their former captain in the fold.
