Leafs Deadline Recap

 

With the trade deadline at 3pm today Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has been busy in the three days leading up to the deadline. It is no secret that despite Toronto leading the North Division seemingly from opening night of the season they still had some issues that needed to be addressed and so far, Dubas in my opinion has made this team much better.

 

Riley Nash:

 

On Friday Toronto traded a conditional 7^th draft pick in 2022 that turns into a 6^th round pick if Nash plays in 25% of Toronto’s playoff games but here is the thing Nash is out with an injury and will not return for the remainder of this season. Now I spoke with a few friends of mine and I saw comments online from people thinking this was a dumb move, but those people were not looking at the big picture. Yes, Riley Nash will not play this season but when he does return in the post season and when Toronto met Columbus last year in the bubble Nash was a pain to play against, he got under the team’s skin with his physical play. When he returns for Toronto in my opinion, he can play on the fourth line and along with Wayne Simmonds can make the Leafs tough to play against. The key detail in this trade was Toronto placing Nash on LTIR along with goalie Freddie Andersen giving the Maple Leafs approximately 7.8 million dollars in space for Monday’s deadline.

 

Nick Foligno:

 

Last night around dinner time Dubas made another deal with the Blue Jackets trading a 2021 1^st round pick and a 2022 4^th round pick for Columbus Captain Nick Foligno with the Jackets retaining 50% of Foligno’s salary. For this trade to work financially Toronto would need a third team to be involved. That third team would end up being the San Jose Sharks who would first acquire Foligno first and then retain some of his remaining salary before sending him to the Leafs to finally complete the deal. Long story short the Maple Leafs will end up only paying Foligno 1.35 million dollars. What he brings to Toronto is quite useful, Foligno is a 30 plus point guy but he can be slotted in anywhere from the second to fourth lines. Right now, Nick Foligno is projected to be on the Left Wing paired with Tavares and honestly once William Nylander returns from Covid protocol and gets back to game shape moving Nylander back to his spot on the opposite wing that would give the Leafs two very threatening lines. Also, Foligno can help Toronto on the power play and as we have recently seen the power play has been just brutal there is no other way to describe it. With this addition though Nick can bring a strong net front presence on the power play where he can screen goalies and clean up any rebounds that may appear. I am incredibly happy with this trade and selfishly I hope Nick wears number 71 and leaps after every goal like his dad did playing for Toronto in the early 90s. It is worth noting Foligno is already in his seven-day quarantine after crossing the boarder so he will be in the line up a little earlier.

 

 

Stefan Noesen:

 

This player was a part of the three-team trade for Nick Foligno with San Jose retaining a portion of Foligno’s contract to acquire this player Toronto would give the Sharks a 2021 4^th round draft pick. Now I am going to be honest I do not know much if anything about this player I do not usually watch San Jose games because they all start at 10:30 at night in the East but looking at his profile on capfriendly.com he has 6 points in 12 appearances with the AHL’s San Jose Barracuda and he is valued at $925,000 so he is likely going to be an addition to the Toronto Marlies forward group.

 

Dave Rittich:

 

Around 11pm last night the Toronto addressed a goalie need because as we know Freddie Andersen has been battling a leg injury, he did not travel with the Leafs on their 4-game road trip recently and has not actually been on the ice in the last three weeks, so Kyle Dubas talked trade with the Calgary Flames who despite thumping their Alberta rivals the Oilers their last game look to be sellers. Calgary sent Rittch to the Leafs retaining 50% of his contract meaning Toronto will only pay 1.375 million dollars. This addition likely says Freddie Andersen does not return this season and this is also insurance for the Leafs net with Campbell dealing with his nagging leg injury. Rittich is a solid addition in goal in 15 appearances he has a record of 4-7-1 but has a GAA of 2.90 and a save percentage of .904. His record does not look all that great, but he is backstopping a Flames team that is struggling and in need of a rebuild or a retooling however you want to describe it. Rittich however when facing Toronto so far this season has been almost unbeatable, he owns a shutout against his new team beating them 3-0 with a few overtime losses where he stopped well over thirty plus shots. Rittich has shown that he is a goalie that can win games for his team and I believe that when he is in goal behind this Leafs defense that has helped Jack Campbell to his perfect start and has even helped Michael Hutchinson to a winning record this season. We will see how things go for Rittich as he will not have to quarantine for a week, but I can say that a goalie duo of Dave Rittich and Jack Campbell is one that will bring even more success for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto now has approximately 2.12 million in cap space due to LTIR and Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston has said the Leafs are not done and it is believed Toronto will now try and acquire a depth defense man.

 

Ben Hutton:

 

This deal came through just as the 3pm deadline had hit but Toronto has now addressed all issues with this addition they gave the Anaheim Ducks a 5^th Round draft pick in 2022 and Toronto will now have defense depth that could possibly platoon with Travis Dermott. Hutton is a big addition he is over 6 feet and weighs in at over 200 pounds, so he is going again bring more physical play and likely make it a little more difficult for teams to play in the Leafs end of the ice.

 

Antti Suomela:

 

This was another deal that came through just after the deadline, but Alexander Barabanov was sent to San Jose for this Finish forward again I do not know much about this player as he plays in the American League for the San Jose Barracuda. Looking into Suomela he has collected 6 points in 10 games this season so clearly, he will be on the Marlies giving them some forward depth. Barabanov was brought in by Toronto from Russia’s KHL and he was looked upon to be a offensive minded forward bringing more production to the Leafs forward group but things didn’t seem to pan out as he would only manage 1 assist in 13 games as a Maple Leaf but as a Toronto Marlie he collected 5 points in two games.

 

 

So, it looks as if Toronto is now done, and I think Dubas has done a great job addressing every need for his team to prepare them for the remainder of the regular season and into what is hopefully a long successful playoff run. We will now turn our focus to tonight’s matchup in Montreal against the Canadiens and of course I will be back to discuss the games result.