Toronto Maple Leafs: Looking into the Blackhawks rumours

As rumours surround the Chicago Blackhawks moving one of their core players for cap space, the Toronto Maple Leafs should stay away even though they make sense as a possible trade partner.

It was only a matter of time before the Chicago Blackhawks began to appear in trade rumours. Year after year they have made trades in order to keep their core together, but at the same time stay underneath the cap ceiling. Now the rumours are starting, some have listed the Toronto Maple Leafs as a team that can help them out.

Hockey Columnist Jay Zawaski had some interesting points on the Blackhawks on Twitter. To sum everything up:

• A core player will be traded soon
• The core player traded won’t be Jonathan Toews
• It will weaken the team short term so the trade would be a salary dump and/or for picks and prospects
• Marcus Kruger is almost 100 percent gone

Looking at CapFriendly.com, the Blackhawks are a little north of $4.5 million over the cap. As one would expect, the payroll is mostly devoted to their core.

So who is the core player that would be dealt? Many fans believe the odd man out will be Brent Seabrook.

The choice makes sense, considering Seabrook’s into his second year of an eight year, $55 million contract (annual average of $6.875 million). The only problem is he has a no-movement clause until 2022-2023, so if he were to be traded anywhere, he would need to waive it first.

Connection to the Leafs

Brent Seabrook is a right-shot defenceman. Not just a right-shot defenceman, but a top pairing right-shot defenceman.

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You’d have to be living under a rock to not know that is the Leaf’s main goal of this offseason. That’s why Toronto will be linked to any defenceman trade (i.e. a Sami Vatanen deal)

Seabrook would come in with winning experience. He’d be able to mentor Morgan Rielly and stabilize the blue-line, as he already averages 20+ minutes a night.

Head coach Mike Babcock wouldn’t have a problem with him either, as he was on that 2010 Olympic team in Sochi. His skating ability would fit in to the Leafs’ system and his offensive touch would be a bonus.

All that being said, the Leafs shouldn’t pursue this one. Although they have the cap space to fit him for the next two seasons, the years afterwards would be a problem. The fact he’s 32 and may be on the verge of a decline in performance is another issue to take note of.

Maximizing the cap space within these next two years would be ideal. But after that, money has to be set aside for Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner.

The ideal defenceman for the Leafs to bring in would be someone along the same age that can grow with the group. That could explain why Vatanen is an attractive option on top of his playing ability.

Next: Leafs shouldn't trade Connor Brown

Past Leafs management might jump at the chance for this trade. However, we can all expect this group to stay on the side of caution. As mentioned in a previous post, it takes smart moves to build a Stanley Cup contender. Trading for Seabrook would be a great idea short-term, but long-term is hard to say.