The Toronto Maple Leafs have had an active offseason, and one trade idea has them further cementing their blue line to make them harder to play against.
Heavy.com proposed a deal that would see the Maple Leafs acquire Mike Matheson from the Montreal Canadiens in an intriguing move between arch-rivals.
Maple Leafs acquire:
Canadiens acquire:
- Simon Benoit
- Nick Robertson
- 2028 third-round pick
The proposed deal would be an intriguing one between division rivals, but one that does make sense for both teams. Montreal gets out of Matheson’s deal as he has been shopped, while Toronto adds to its already stacked defense, and the Habs get two young, impactful NHL players.
The Maple Leafs would acquire Matheson, who’s in the final year of his eight-year, $39 million deal with the Canadiens. The 31-year-old would bolster the Maple Leafs’ blue line and add some more offense to the back end, which was an issue last season. Matheson recorded 6 goals and 25 assists for 31 points in 80 games last season. His career high is 11 goals and 62 points, which he did two years ago.
In return, the Maple Leafs would give up Benoit, who would replace Matheson on the Canadiens’ blue line. Benoit is from Quebec and has two years left on his three-year, $4.05 million deal, but with Toronto acquiring Matheson, he would become expendable. Benoit would be a good third-pairing defenseman for the Habs and add some more physicality to the lineup.
Robertson, meanwhile, is an RFA but would be a good middle-six winger who can add some more depth scoring to the lineup.
Canadiens Could Trade Matheson
Montreal acquired Noah Dobson this offseason and has David Reinbacher pushing for NHL minutes, which could make Matheson expendable.
With the veteran in the final year of his deal, it would be wise for the Canadiens to trade him to get some assets back so he doesn’t leave for nothing. Canadiens insider Marc Dumont of MontrealHockeyNow also believes the Habs are open to trading Matheson.
“Veteran Mike Matheson is at the top of that list, especially since the top four has suddenly become very crowded, with Dobson, Hutson, Alexandre Carrier, and Kaiden Guhle representing the obvious choices to fill out the pairings… There should be plenty of suitors if the Canadiens do make him available for a trade,” Dumont wrote.
If Montreal is open to trading Matheson, dealing him to the Maple Leafs could make sense even though they are rivals. Toronto has some young players to give up, which fits the Canadiens’ window, while the Maple Leafs need to add more offense from their blue line.
Maple Leafs GM Likes Size of Defense
Since taking over as the Maple Leafs’ general manager, Brad Treliving has put an emphasis on being harder to play against.
That started on the blue line, as Treliving has added big, physical defenseman.
“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.”
However, that has resulted in less offense from the blue line, which is why acquiring someone like Matheson makes sense for the Maple Leafs.
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This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
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