The Toronto Maple Leafs offense has struggled to begin the season and a trade proposal has them acquiring a star forward.
The website PuckPedia‘s PuckGM tool lets users create their own trades. One user proposed a deal that would see the Maple Leafs acquiring Bryan Rust in a multi-player deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Maple Leafs acquire:
Bryan Rust ($625k retained)
Drew O’Connor
Penguins acquire:
Nick Robertson
David Kampf
William Villeneuve
The proposed deal does make sense as Toronto gets two impact NHL players to help them win now. Pittsburgh, meanwhile, gets younger players as the Penguins are likely out of its Cup window.
Rust is in the third year of his six-year $30.75 million deal. The star forward was a key member of the Penguins team that won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. He could be a top-six forward for Toronto and add some more scoring to the lineup. Last season, Rust recorded 28 goals and 28 assists for 56 points in 62 games.
O’Connor, meanwhile, could be a bottom-six forward with the Maple Leafs and add some scoring to the bottom of the lineup which has been an issue for Toronto. O’Connor is in the second year of his two-year $1.85 million deal.
The biggest piece in the deal for the Penguins would be Robertson. He was selected by Kyle Dubas who is now the GM of the Penguins. Robertson requested a trade this offseason but ended up signing a one-year deal.
Kampf, meanwhile, is in the second year of his four-year $9.6 million deal and could be a bottom-six forward and a shutdown defender for the Penguins.
Villeneuve, meanwhile, is a defenseman who was selected in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL draft. He’s playing in the AHL and could be a fifth or sixth defenseman in the NHL.
Maple Leafs Power Play Struggling
Toronto should look to add more offense to its lineup this season as through eight games, the Maple Leafs offense, but more specifically its power play has struggled.
Through eight games, Toronto’s power play ranks 11.1% which ranks 27th in the NHL.
Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube has also been frustrated with his team’s play as he called them out after its 5-1 loss at home on October 24.
“Our whole team is getting a little cute. We just gotta play direct,” Berube said. “We don’t need that kinda stuff.”
Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews, meanwhile, says the team hasn’t been playing well and puts the blame on himself.
“Two games now, we’re just not good enough. Pretty simple. Just light on pucks. They won battles. They won the net-front tonight. It’s pretty simple,” captain Auston Matthews said. “Just a bad game all around, up and down the lineup. Starts with me.”
Toronto returns to the ice on October 26 against the Boston Bruins.
Penguins GM Discusses Slow Start
Pittsburgh is off to a 3-4-1 start, but the Penguins have lost three straight games.
With Pittsburgh on a road trip, Penguins GM Kyle Dubas says he is paying close attention to how the team is playing to see if he needs to make a move.
“It’s a hard week, and you learn so much more about your teams when you go through hard weeks like this. So, we’ll go through that, then we’ll come home next week, and then we’ll analyze it from there,” Dubas said to SportsNet Pittsburgh play-by-play broadcaster Josh Getzoff during the latest edition of the GM Show.
“But so much more of it is in the long range,” Penguins added. “I think everyone wants to know, did you win or you lose? For me, it’s more, how are we playing? How are we responding when things go poorly? Have we improved ourselves defensively? Are we still getting contributions from lower in the lineup? Have some of the goaltenders stepped up? Those are the things that I’ll be looking for before the calendar turns to November.”
Pittsburgh plays the Edmonton Oilers on October 25.
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