Toronto Maple Leafs: Examining 4 potential trade deadline targets

Dylan DeMelo

Is it possible that the Leafs and Ottawa Senators would come together again to make a trade?

At this point, the Senators can’t afford to be picky with who they trade with considering that has come back to bite them before when they traded Mike Hoffman to the Sharks who then flipped him to the Ottawa Senators.

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This would obviously be a different scenario considering how DeMelo is an unrestricted free agent that would just be a rental at this point. Thomas Williams of Yahoo Sports brought up the idea of the Leafs going after the right-handed defenceman who would provide the Leafs with a more capable option lower in the lineup.

As one of the pieces in the Erik Karlsson trade, the Senators would be wise to flip DeMelo for another piece considering he is probably going to be an unrestricted free agent. He would be an easier piece to acquire since he doesn’t carry a hefty cap hit ($900,000) and has been asked to take on more minutes with the Senators dealing with a couple of injuries on the blue line.

The Leafs would be wise to see who the Senators are willing to walk away from and if they can get ahead of other contending teams who could be looking to add some depth on the right side ahead of the playoffs. Toronto would probably have to send over a mid-round pick and maybe a lower-tier prospect in a potential deal for DeMelo.

Honourable mentions: Jeff Petry‘s name has been mentioned but with a cap hit of $5.5 million this season and next, the Montreal Canadiens would have to take back salary or at least take on Cody Ceci’s deal to make the Leafs even consider that.

Alec Martinez would be another scenario like Muzzin but would probably be too costly considering the Leafs have traded a lot of first-round picks lately.  There is also Sami Vatanen on the Devils who could be made available as New Jersey tries to right the ship after firing Ray Shero.

What would you like to see the Leafs do ahead of the trade deadline? Which players would you have available in a potential trade? Let us know in the comments below.