The Toronto Maple Leafs could look to shake up their roster and their blue line this summer.
The Maple Leafs had another early playoff exit, and general manager Brad Treliving said the team needs a DNA change. Heading into the offseason, NHL insider Ryan Dixon of Sportsnet liked the Maple Leafs to trade for Calgary Flames star defenseman Rasmus Andersson to replace Morgan Rielly.
“Andersson would bring a puck-moving element Toronto’s defence corps could use, and the Leafs would really be set on the right side with Andersson, Tanev and trade deadline pickup Brandon Carlo,” Dixon wrote.
“Any chance Calgary would look at Morgan Rielly as part of a return? It sure feels like the longest-tenured Leaf — who holds full no-movement projection — could benefit from a scenery change,” Dixon added. “And removing him from the books would help with keeping Andersson around long-term.”
Andersson is entering the final year of his six-year, $27.3 million deal with the Flames. But, an extension would likely come with the trade as Toronto would want some insurance that he would be around for a while.
Andersson would replace Rielly’s offense on the blue line, as well as his ability to move the puck. He recorded 11 goals and 20 assists for 31 points in 81 games. But, the big question is whether or not Rielly would waive his no-movement clause to be traded to Calgary.
What Would Maple Leafs Trade for Andersson?
If Toronto does trade for Andersson, it likely wouldn’t be cheap.
As Dixon notes, Rielly would likely be part of the deal to make the salary work. But, outside of that, the Maple Leafs don’t have many draft picks to give up, nor top prospects to make the trade work.
“The issue for the Leafs is, they’ve blown a lot of their powder already landing the aforementioned Carlo and Scott Laughton at the deadline,” Dixon wrote. “They have no first-round picks for the next three years and — outside of Easton Cowan, who they’d surely like to retain — Toronto doesn’t have a ton in the way of appealing prospects, having already parted with Fraser Minten in the Carlo trade with Boston and Nikita Grebenkin in the swap that got Laughton from Philly.”
Toronto would likely have to part ways with Cowan and Ben Danford, who are their two top prospects, to make a move work. Whether or not the Maple Leafs would want to give up that much is uncertain, but Toronto would also get off of Rielly’s contract in the process.
Maple Leafs GM Likes his Defense
Since taking over as general manager, Treliving has done a good job in rebuilding the Maple Leafs’ blue line.
Treliving has added the likes of Carlo, Tanev, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson to bolster the blue line. Despite Toronto falling short in the playoffs, the Maple Leafs GM is happy with how the defense has turned out.
“In today’s game, I like the length of our defense, I like the makeup of our defense. We’ve still got to be able to get out of our own end,” Treliving said. “There are things we can do in terms of closing quicker and taking away space… We need to get more offense from our defense. But in terms of personnel, we’ll see. I like the D-corps, but we can’t be rigid.”
The Maple Leafs have all seven NHL defensemen under contract for next season.
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