As the trade deadline gets closer the number of phone calls between the 31 teams’ general managers increases as well. At least that’s how it’s seemed for Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman. This week alone he’s had two deals made with the Florida Panthers. However, for Kyle Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s been a quiet few weeks leading up to the April 12 deadline. There have been stirrings about potential moves, names thrown around the rumour mill, but no trades made as of yet. Enter Bowman and the Blackhawks. According to TSN insider Pierre LeBrun via the April 8 edition of ‘Insider Trading’, the two teams have been talking. The two could participate in a few different trades come deadline day. Let’s examine the potential Toronto Maple Leafs trade options with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Options
Trade One: Salary Cap Retention
As noted by Chicago’s most recent deal with Florida, the team has no issue taking on extra cap space. However, as Stan Bowman showed, it will cost the team prospects or high drafts stock if they were to take any bad contracts on. Toronto could be in the market to acquire a player with a high cap hit, for example, Taylor Hall or Josh Manson. Currently, the Leafs have just under $2 million in deadline cap space to play within the coming days. That is not nearly enough to take on a significant contract like the two players mentioned.
Enter Chicago.
They’ve got cap space to spare and are willing to take on a contract or two in order to gain future stock. It’s entirely in the realm of possibility for Dubas to call up Bowman and ask if he is willing to retain some salary. In return, Bowman will likely want a high levelled prospect or draft pick, but that’s just how it’ll be if Dubas wants to get the deal done.
Trade Two: Roster Player Swap
Mattias Janmark is having one of his better seasons in recent memory. He’s currently got 10 goals and 9 assists for 19 points through 40 games. That’s an 82 game pace of 39 points. He’s never had above 35 in his four previous seasons. On top of that, his defensive game is solid this season as well, something Toronto could defiantly use down the stretch and into the playoffs. The Blackhawks also have a fair amount of NHL-ready defencemen to fill in for any trade losses, in this case, Nikita Zadorov. Zadorov is a big-bodied, young, NHL-proven top-four defenceman. He’s a force to be reckoned with and could be a nice bit of grit on the blue line.
For Chicago to trade out Janmark they’d need to receive a roster player in return. However, there are few trade-worthy assets that Chicago could realistically afford. This could be one of Alexander Kerfoot or Zach Hyman. Hyman is playing first-line minutes alongside Auston Matthews, so he’d likely be more expensive than Kerfoot. Kerfoot, formerly of the Colorado Avalanche, is sitting as the team’s third-line center. He also can play the left side pretty well too. Chicago would likely only get Kerfoot and a mid-round pick out of Toronto for Zadorov and Janmark. However, the trade isn’t all that lopsided. Chicago gets a young winger with term as well as draft stock. Toronto would receive a proven defenceman and an evenly skilled player to fill Kerfoot’s spot in the lineup.
Trade Three: Young Player Swap
Pierre Engvall hasn’t necessarily panned out to be the player that Toronto expected him to be. Granted he is a former 7th round draft pick, but he hasn’t been the most productive centre for Toronto. A change of scenery could do good for the 24-year-old Swedish-born player. His contract currently runs through the summer of 2022. With a $1.25 million cap hit he is a very moveable asset for the Leafs to shop around at the deadline. Moving him out to Chicago would make room for Adam Brooks to potentially slot into the lineup and get him to see some valued NHL minutes.
Chicago likely wouldn’t need to give up a roster forward or a prospect. More likely would be a mid-rounder, for example, one of their fourth or fifth-round picks in the coming drafts. The deal would give Chicago more youth to develop and hold onto, something Stan Bowman has stated he is looking to add at this deadline. Engvall might not have the highest ceiling, but he has plenty of time to pan out into a valued top-nine optioning the league. If there is an organization to boost that development process, then Bowman and Chicago are the ones to do it.
With the position that Chicago is in at this deadline it would be interesting and likely for Dubas to make a call or two to Bowman about making one of these trades. The more likely of the three is as a third partner in a high-salary intake on the Leafs’ end. There are still valuable pieces Chicago has that can turn a Toronto Maple Leafs trade into a deep playoff run after the deadline.
Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:’aUjFgVk6QWVH6T6s51U3hw’,sig:’nNpfxH8lgXl12vzIKVXKgU1uewt1l9T3m4YrpyT1C5c=’,w:’594px’,h:’396px’,items:’1068113488′,caption: true ,tld:’ca’,is360: false })});
