Trade Pitch Has Maple Leafs Acquiring Star $49 Million Defenseman in Blockbuster

Getty Trade pitch has Maple Leafs acquiring Ryan Pulock.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are focused on improving its blue line in the offseason and a trade pitch helps cement it even more.

The website PuckPedia‘s PuckGM tool lets users create their own trades. One user proposed a deal that would see the Maple Leafs acquiring Ryan Pulock from the New York Islanders.

Maple Leafs acquire:

• Ryan Pulock ($2.5 million retained)

Islanders acquire:

• Pontus Holmberg
• Calle Jarnkrok
• 2026 first-round pick
• 2025 fourth-round pick (Pittsburgh’s)

The proposed deal is a blockbuster as Toronto would acquire Pulock who is a top defenseman for two NHL players and two draft picks including a first-round pick.

Pulock is in the third year of his eight-year $49.2 million deal. The 30-year-old is a shutdown defender for the Islanders and could even further bolster the Maple Leafs’ right-side defense which would feature Chris Tanev, Jake McCabe, and Pulock which would be arguably the best right sides in the NHL. In his NHL career, Pulock has skated in 489 games recording 48 goals and 144 assists for 192 points.

In return, the Maple Leafs would deal two draft picks and two forwards. Holmberg is in the final year of his two-year $1.6 million deal. Holmberg is a middle-six forward and could add some depth to the Islanders lineup. Last season, he skated in 54 games recording 7 goals and 10 assists for 17 points.

Jarnkrok, meanwhile, plays a similar role to Holmberg but does add more offense. He’s in the third year of his four-year $8.4 million deal. Last season, Jarnkrok recorded 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points in 52 games.

Maple Leafs Make Changes to Defense

Toronto will make a change to its blue line on October 16.

The Maple Leafs will be scratching Conor Timmins and inserting former first-round pick Timothy Liljegren who will be making his season debut. Ahead of his season debut, coach Craig Berube says Liljegren needs to simplify his game.

“It’s about him managing his game and managing his puck movement and making good decisions with it, not risky ones,” Berube said. “Just simplify. And then, you have to win your battles as a defenceman. It’s important you’re defending well and you’re strong in your net-front and winning those board battles, corner battles and things like that. He has to do that.”

Liljegren will be skating on the third pairing with Simon Benoit.

Islanders Focused on Playing Well Defensively

New York is a defensive first team and through the first week of the 2024-25 NHL season, the Islanders had played that role well.

“We’ve been playing very well defensively since the training camp and exhibition games, the first two games,” head coach Patrick Roy said. “I think we can build on that, absolutely.”

The Islanders put their defensive skills to the test against the high-flying Colorado Avalanche. New York beat Colorado 6-2 on the road and captain Anders Lee was thrilled how his team played.

“We have the ability to clog things up,” Lee said. “Obviously it’s gonna be tough to stop Nate from skating the way he does and Cale, at times, no matter what. But I think overall, we did a good job of limiting them as much as we could. It’s a team that thrives off turnovers. That was evident. If we made a little bit of a mistake, it’s coming right back at us. At certain times, we did a good job with the puck.”

The Islanders are off to a 1-1-1 start through three games.