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Toronto Maple Leafs: Five logical trade partners to help improve the team

By David Morassutti

TORONTO - NOVEMBER 20: A general view of action during the NHL game between the New York Islanders and the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre on November 20, 2006 in Toronto, Ontario. The Maple Leafs beat the Islanders 4-2.(Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images)
TORONTO - NOVEMBER 20: A general view of action during the NHL game between the New York Islanders and the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre on November 20, 2006 in Toronto, Ontario. The Maple Leafs beat the Islanders 4-2.(Photo By Dave Sandford/Getty Images) /
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Arizona Coyotes
TORONTO, ON – DECEMBER 15: Oliver Ekman-Larsson /

Arizona Coyotes

After making a flurry of moves in the offseason, the Coyotes opened up the season with one of the worst starts that the NHL has not seen in 74 years. They went winless in their first 11 games of the season and look to be in a battle for the first overall pick in this year’s draft.

They are in a position to move forward with a young core but their blueline and goaltending is an area that need to be addressed. So why should the Leafs by calling Arizona for help on the blueline?

The Coyotes do have a couple of defencemen that would make sense for the Leafs but with Arizona struggling so much, it might be a tough time to get them to make a deal.

They will have to make a choice with Oliver Ekman-Larsson with his contract up next season. The 26-year-old is not going to want to stay on a team that is struggling to take the next step. This could be a similar situation as what the Colorado Avalanche went through with Matt Duchene so the Coyotes will need to find a solution.

Ekman-Larsson is one of those players that can make a consistent impact at both ends with two 20-plus goal seasons and is usually a consistent 40-plus point producer. The Leafs don’t really have an established producer on the powerplay so Ekman-Larsson could be the ideal fit but he’s also an expensive option.

Another player that could help the Leafs is Jason Demers who was traded to the Coyotes from the Florida Panthers for Jamie McGinn. The Panthers took on some of Demers’ salary so his cap hit is under $4-million. Demers would obviosuly be a cheaper option for the Leafs but that is only if Arizona decides to be a seller.

There is no denying that Ekman-Larsson would improve the Leafs defence and the sooner Arizona realizes that trading their star blueliner will help them going forward, the better off they will be. GM John Chayka recently went on record saying he is having no conversations for the Swedish defenceman but the calls will keep coming for him.

Unfortunately this would be an expensive trade for the Leafs to make but one that would give them the top tier defenceman that they need. The Leafs could also roll the dice and hope Ekman-Larsson makes it to free agency but if there is an opportunity to add him now, they should take it.

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