Seattle Kraken Abruptly Shut down Trade Talks with Maple Leafs Over Top-4 Defenseman, per Elliotte Friedman
NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman reports that the Seattle Kraken have told the Maple Leafs to stop asking them about potentially acquiring one of their top defensemen.
Only days separate the 32 NHL clubs from the Trade Deadline, which is Friday afternoon at 3PM EST, in what is sure to be not only a hectic day for GM's but an exciting and thrilling time for hockey fans.
There are expected to be a flurry of deals between now and then as teams position themselves to either make a deep postseason run or to shed assets with an eye on the future and the rebuilding process.
One of the teams expected to be active at the trade deadline is the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have already been linked to former Stanley Cup-winning forward Reilly Smith.
According to top NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman, they have serious interest in Seattle Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson.
But there's only one problem - the Kraken apparently don't want to give him up, and have reportedly even told the Leafs to stop calling about him.
Toronto Needs To Shift Gears If Seattle Stands Firm On Adam Larsson
Larsson is under contract through 2029 with an AAV (average annual value) of $5.25M and while he would no doubt help the Maple Leafs, it would give the team another long-term aging veteran who is going to eat up more cap.
Toronto would definitely need some salary retention in the deal, and besides needing a third team in a trade to get it done, they'll also need to part with some pretty vital pieces as well.
This year with the struggling Kraken, Larsson has 15 points (3G, 12A) and a +7 rating in 61 games for a club that won't qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Known as one of the NHL's best pure shutdown defenders, Larsson has 228 points in 909 games (48G, 180A) while adding 1646 hits and 2099 blocks with time spent in New Jersey, Edmonton and Seattle.
The team can shift to other options like Michael Kesselring, Carson Soucy, David Savard, or Luke Schenn in order to fill whatever blue line holes they have.
Depth on the blue line is extremely valuable for any club like the Maple Leafs hoping to expel demons of past playoff past - but it sounds like they'd better look into other options besides Larsson.
