The Toronto Maple Leafs have been connected to making a move for veteran New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield.
It’s no secret that the Maple Leafs need help on the defensive side of the ice. To that end, there were plenty of scouts in the building on Monday night as Toronto beat the San Jose Sharks.
One of those teams that had scouts in the building was the Islanders, who have a veteran defenseman in Mayfield who could be moved, potentially to Toronto.
Toronto Connected to Scott Mayfield
Per Islanders reporter Stefen Rosner, the Islanders and Maple Leafs spoke about Mayfield last year, and with the veteran defenseman currently being a healthy scratch for the Islanders, it could be a sign that a trade is incoming — potentially to Toronto.
“#Isles have scouts in building for #SJSharks vs. #Leafs. TOR looking for D. I believe TOR inquired about Mayfield last season. Believe they’ve stayed in touch. Mayfield (full NTC) has been a healthy scratch for 6 of 8 games this season. Won’t play tomorrow, either,” Rosner wrote on his X.
Scott Mayfield NHL Career
Mayfield is a 34-year-old defenseman who was originally drafted in the second round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
He has spent parts of 14 seasons in the NHL, all for the Islanders, playing in 617 regular-season games with 30 goals and 140 points. He has also played in 57 postseason games, contributing four goals and 16 points in the playoffs.
Mayfield is currently in the fourth year of a seven-year, $24.5 million contract that pays him $3.5 million per season. He has a no-trade clause in his contract that allows him to block a move to any other team, but since he has been getting healthy-scratched this season by Islanders head coach Pete DeBoer, there is a good chance that Mayfield would waive his NTC to go to another team — potentially, Toronto.
The Maple Leafs could use a veteran defenseman to help with their goal prevention, so let’s see if Toronto and New York can agree on a potential trade that brings the veteran d-man to the Maple Leafs and one that is fair for both teams.
Maple Leafs Connected to Islanders Defenseman