The Toronto Maple Leafs have focused on improving their defense this offseason, and one trade pitch helps bolster that even more.
The website PuckPedia‘s PuckGM tool lets users create their own trades, and one user proposed a deal that would see the Maple Leafs acquire Colton Parayko from the St. Louis Blues.
Maple Leafs get:
Blues get:
The proposed deal would be a blockbuster as Toronto would add Parayko who has five years left on his eight-year $52 million deal with the Blues. Parayko could become a top-four defenseman with the Maple Leafs and help the blue line become one of the best in the league.
Parayko won a Stanley Cup with the Blues in 2019 when Craig Berube was the coach, who is now the Maple Leafs head coach. The defensemen skated in 82 games recording 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points.
Toronto would have to give up a lot to St. Louis, but the Blues get younger and help with their youth movement. Liljegren is a former first-round pick who is just 25, but he has struggled to stay in the Maple Leafs lineup.
Minten, meanwhile, was a second-round pick in 2022 and made the Maple Leafs out of training camp last season. However, he didn’t stick but could make the bottom of the Blues lineup this season.
Robertson, on the other hand, is an NHL player but has requested a trade, as he told Toronto he has no plans to re-sign. The RFA forward would project to be a top-six forward with the Blues.
The final player Toronto deals is Kampf who is a fourth-line center, as his salary helps the deal go through.
Maple Leafs GM Hints at More Moves
NHL training camps are set to open up in September with the season starting in October, meaning the offseason is nearly over.
Although the offseason is nearly over, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving has hinted at making more moves to improve the roster.
“We’re not set yet. We continue to look at ways to make our team better,” Treliving said on OverDrive on TSN 1050. “I said at the end of the year we’re going to look at everything. Sometimes people fall in love with ‘ ‘let’s make a big change just to make a big change’. At the end of the day, you can go out and make big changes. If they’re not making your team better, to me it doesn’t make any sense to just make a change just to stand up and say ‘look at it, we made this big change.'”
The Maple Leafs have just over $1.2 million in cap space, so Toronto does have money to make another move. What that move will be is uncertain, but the Maple Leafs have been linked to left-wingers.
Parayko Mentioned as Trade Candidate
Despite Parayko being under contract for five more seasons, his name has been mentioned as a trade target.
The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta has Parayko on his trade watch list for the summer and has the Maple Leafs mentioned as one of the teams who could be interested in him.
“Parayko’s name continues to swirl around the trade winds, as it has for the last two seasons. He has a full NTC and five more years left on his contract. It’ll take a big deal, and his approval, to make something happen. But, the Blues are exploring their options and seem set on moving at least one of their defenseman this off-season,” Pagnotta wrote.
Parayko has skated in 659 NHL games recording 61 goals and 198 assists for 259 points.
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Trade Pitch Has Maple Leafs Acquiring $52 Million Defenseman in Blockbuster