The Toronto Maple Leafs will be aggressive before the trade deadline with a focus likely on their forward group.
NHL analyst Jesse Courville-Lynch of The Hockey Writers believes Toronto should make a trade with their division rival the Ottawa Senators for Claude Giroux.
“The first player they could look at bringing in is veteran forward Claude Giroux… He is in the final season of his contract and holds a $6.5 million cap hit, making him a bit pricey for the Maple Leafs who are tight to the cap already,” Courville-Lynch wrote. “Luckily, the Senators may consider retaining some salary to maximize a return in a trade, in hopes he’d be open to returning to Ottawa in free agency.
“Giroux would help stabilize the Maple Leafs’ bottom-six forward depth, as he is someone who can play anywhere in their lineup if needed depending on injuries,” Courville-Lynch added. “His playoff experience would be helpful for them as well, and he should be someone they target at the 2025 Trade Deadline if the Senators continue to lose games.”
Giroux would be a big addition to the Maple Leafs roster, as Courville-Lynch writes. He would add some depth scoring to the middle of the lineup and can also play on the power play.
Given that Giroux is in the final year of his deal, the cost to acquire the veteran forward likely wouldn’t be that much either.
Giroux has skated in 1203 career games and his career-high is 35 goals while his career-high in points is 102.
Senators Could Look to Shake Up Core
With Ottawa off to another slow start, the Senators could look to trade some key members of their roster.
NHL insider Frank Seravalli recently reported that the Senators have had trade talks involving forward Josh Norris.
“I was told over the weekend that, among the conversations that the Sens have been in one of the names that popped up to the surface has been Josh Norris,” Seravalli said. “He’s got a number of years left on his deal. If you’re gonna start to make changes, you gotta begin to attack some of the core that’s been for a long time that hasn’t had some success. Norris would be one of those guys that jumps to the top of the page.”
Norris is in the third year of an eight-year $63.6 million deal. This season, he’s skated in 21 games recording 8 goals and 6 assists for 14 points.
Maple Leafs Have Key Forward Injuries
Toronto could look to add a forward due to the injuries to the roster.
The Maple Leafs are without Auston Matthews, Max Pacioretty, Max Domi, Calle Jarnkrok, Matthew Knies, and David Kampf among others.
The biggest injury is to Matthews, who will miss his ninth straight game on November 27. But, Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube says he’s closing in on a return.
“He had a real good practice, but he has been off a while,” Berube said. “Getting into a full practice was very important. But both him and I, as well as the organization, feel he needs a little bit more to be ready to go. It’s not a healing thing … it’s stamina, getting up to speed and making sure he is ready. We want to make sure he is comfortable and ready to go.’’
Despite the injuries, the Maple Leafs are 13-6-2.
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Analyst Urges Maple Leafs to Acquire Former 102-Point Forward From Rival