Leafs GM Brad Treliving makes trade offer to boost his defense
Brad Treliving appears to be on the hunt to improve his blueline, and now we know which defenseman he is targeting and it's Chris Tanev.
The Leafs are definitely in an interesting spot at this point in the season. They are fighting to maintain a playoff spot, something they haven't been accustomed to in the last few years. Now, they need to decide how risky they want to play this year's deadline to find improvements.
We now know, though, who Brad Treliving is targeting, and they are primarily defensemen. The Leafs need to improve on the blueline, and Treliving is taking some swings at some highly sought-after defensemen to make that improvement.
"They include Sean Walker and Alexandre Carrier, who are both pending unrestricted free agents like Tanev.
"I think the biggest impediment so far into the Leafs making that deal is they don't want to move their first-round pick and they don't have a second-round pick in the next three drafts. So, they have been trying to go with volume, offering multiple lower-round draft picks. So far, the teams involved in those discussions have no interest in doing that.»
The Maple Leafs, unfortunately, don't have much to offer when it comes to high draft picks over the next few seasons. They don't want to give up their number 1 next year, as they don't have one the following year, and they don't have a second-round pick in either of the next two years.
This puts them in a tough spot, offering more lower-round picks, which it appears teams are not interested in. We will see if Treliving takes more of a risk and is willing to move one of the Leafs prospects to get something done this deadline.
This team has clearly struggled with defense, and Treliving has made numerous trade offers. However, teams are not interested in late picks, preferring first-round picks instead.
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