Toronto Maple Leafs: Trade Deals GM Lou Lamoriello Will Surely Make

It is not my intention to act as if I know the details of any specific, or soon to be announced Toronto Maple Leafs trade. Instead, I contend that a trade is both inevitable and imminent with something virtually guaranteed to happen before the start of the regular season.

One look at the long list of invitees to this year’s Toronto Maple Leafs training camp, totaling an almost unmanageable 79 players, and we can see that general manager Lou Lamoriello, his management team, and coaching staff have their work cut out for them.

Among the tough decisions Leaf brass will have to contend with is determining which players the Leafs organization will say goodbye to and the manner with which their departure will be facilitated.

Of the 79 players currently in camp, many will return to their junior teams or find roster spots on the Leafs AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, or their ECHL affiliate the Orlando Solar Bears.

More from Toronto Maple Leafs

• Maple Leafs Rumours: Half of NHL teams interested in Ilya Mikheyev
• Toronto Maple Leafs: How to address the goaltender position
• Leafs reward Timothy Liljegren with extension after breakout season
• Maple Leafs: Jack Campbell situation becoming increasingly uncertain
• Jason Spezza retires, joins Toronto Maple Leafs front office

Re-assignment to the minors and players returning to the junior ranks will take care of a very large segment of the 79 training camp hopefuls but there will still remain a sizeable contingent that cannot be re-assigned without clearing waivers.

Most of this group are on one-way NHL contracts and if we can agree that more than a few of them are not by any means guaranteed a roster spot with the Leafs, it is a list that could include any number of the following players:

• Josh Leivo
• Connor Carrick
• Frankie Corrado
• Matt Hunwick
• Peter Holland
• Brooks Laich
• Milan Michalek
• Colin Greening
• Byron Froese

Let me put this another way:

The Leafs have a roster logjam issue with a handful of waiver eligible players on NHL contracts who are all valid NHL player assets and they do not want to risk losing any of these players to the waiver wire. To do so at this early stage of an organization wide rebuild would be the height of mismanagement, something that Lamoriello has never been guilty of.

Arriving at this conclusion is not like reading tea leaves or tarot cards, it comes about by means far more substantive, as all signs point to the fact that a Leafs trade is necessary. The question for whom and with whom remains to be revealed.

The other option is as follows:

All waiver exempt players that would otherwise claim roster spots out of Leafs training camp would have to be sent down to the Marlies in order to not lose any of the previously listed players to the waiver wire.

Beginning on defense and working on the reasonable assumption that the Leafs will carry seven D (as most NHL teams do), of the top eight defenders on the Leafs depth chart, Nikita Zaitsev alone is waiver exempt.

Of the other highly touted rookies vying for a place on the team, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Nikita Soshnikov, Zach Hyman and Connor Brown are waiver exempt, while Mitch Marner can only be sent back to junior.

Leafs waiver exempt players potentially about to claim NHL jobs:

• Nikita Zaitsev
• Auston Matthews
• William Nylander
• Nikita Soshnikov
• Zach Hyman
• Connor Brown
• Mitch Marner

A third, much less desirable, option exists in sending all of the waiver exempt players back to the Marlies not named Matthews or Nylander, to over ripen and bide their time. Marner is then sent back to junior, while Zaitsev is left wondering why he left the KHL to play in the AHL? … Suffice to say that this third option is unlikely.

So who will the Leafs be trading and for whom?

I like the idea mentioned by hockey pundit Tim Chiasson on Editor In Leaf of pursuing Jacob Trouba of the Winnipeg Jets.

If you are not aware of the specifics, Trouba has asked for a trade out of Winnipeg. His reasons seem to be centered around the fact that as a right shooting, right defenseman, he feels he cannot fulfill his full NHL potential of being a dominant, game changing player behind two great right D talents in Tyler Myers and Dustin Byfuglien.

More from Tip of the Tower

• Cam Phillips making his mark on Toronto Argonauts offence
• Toronto Argonauts: 4 storylines ahead of matchup against Redblacks
• Federico Bernardeschi ready for new challenge with Toronto FC
• Toronto Argonauts overcome Roughriders in entertaining Touchdown Atlantic
• Buffalo Bills: Von Miller drawing inspiration from Bruce Smith

Trouba is a heck of a hockey player and I know that I am not alone in wondering how awesome it would be for both incumbent lefties, Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner to have world class right shooting defensive partners with Zaitsev and Trouba. But what would it take for this to happen?

The Jets would rightfully demand the hockey version of a King’s ransom but this should not be a deterrent since the Leafs have the assets to make such a deal happen. Let’s start with sending back Corrado, a right D who would be glad to play behind Myers and Byfuglien in the third pairing.

Then add Hunwick to the deal as a steadfast demand by the Leafs. Additionally, include Byron Froese and a mix of draft picks which would include two 2017 second-round picks and a 2018 first-round pick. This proposed deal is summarized below.

Is this enough to secure Trouba? Proabably not, but the necessity of a Leafs trade deal structured something to this effect is obvious. The three for one player swap frees up two much needed NHL contracts, and the draft picks can be sacrificed during a time when more picks will be accumulated.

Next: 3 Players to Watch in First Preseason Game

If not Jacob Trouba, who else is out there that is available and would be a positional upgrade for the Leafs? Who would you like to see the Leafs pursue?