The Leafs are coming off one of their best wins of the season thus far, dominating the red-hot Vancouver Canucks. T
he Leafs looked like a complete team, rolling 4 lines the majority of the night and getting 3 of the 5 goals from the bottom 6.
Of those who looked great was Nick Robertson, who has 4 points in his first 4 games with the Leafs after starting the year with the Marlies.
With such success also comes a higher trade value, and reporter Luke Fox thinks that he could fit nicely in a deal to find the Leafs a defenseman that they desperately need.
The Leafs are a target customer for Nikita Zadorov, and Fox questions just which pieces Treliving might be willing to part ways with in order to get him.
The Leafs are in a mindset that anything less than last year's playoff performance would be a significant letdown. It is early in the year, and the kinks are still being worked out, however, they do need to consider what gaps need to be filled. The most glaring is on the blue line.
It appears that the third-line issue with Max Domi's early struggles has been fixed, putting Robertson on his line with Jarnkrok, and playing Knies with the big guns of Matthews and Marner.
Moving Robertson now could put the Leafs back in trouble with their bottom-6 depth after developing a good rhythm on their 3rd line.
Moving Minten, or their pick next year, might be a more attractive play for Treliving, who is looking to make a splash in his first year.
The Leafs have some good prospects in their pipeline, and the mentality is to win now. Getting a defenseman who can help achieve that goal while not making sacrifices to their scoring talent would be a huge win for the Leafs.
As seen on Maple Leafs Daily :
Leafs reporter lists a few potential pieces that the Leafs could move in a deal to acquire a defenseman
POLL | ||
Who do you think the Leafs should move? | ||
Klingberg (with sweetner) | 587 | 75.7 % |
Minten | 43 | 5.5 % |
Robertson | 53 | 6.8 % |
2024 First Round Pick | 92 | 11.9 % |
List of polls |