Top-4 defenseman rumoured to be available and the Leafs have long coveted him

The Leafs have a combined 20 UFAs and RFAs in need of new deals or in need of their walking papers and as we approach the busiest point in the year for rumours, there are going to be plenty of names floating around out there that will end up being connected to the Leafs. One such name just popped up on Saturday night.

Per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the Calgary Flames have been receiving a lot of calls on defenseman Noah Hanafin. The 26-year-old has just 1 year remaining on his current deal at a very reasonable $4.95M. At this point, Friedman didn't necessarily connect Hanafin and the Leafs, but with Brad Treliving having already traded for Hanafin once in his career (back in June of 2018), it would not be shocking to see him do it twice.

Hanafin was the 5th overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. If you'll recall, Hanafin was one of 3 names the Leafs were heavily connected to leading up to the draft. The other two, of course, were Dylan Strome (3rd overall to Arizona) and Mitch Marner, who they ended up taking 4th overall. At the time, it was believed that then head coach Mike Babcock was really pushing for the young defenseman, but that Mark Hunter selected Marner because of Strome being off the board and because of the London Knights connection.

It's too early to say for sure whether or not the Leafs will jump in here or how hard they might pursue a deal for Hanafin either at the draft or at some point this summer, but we know that GMs have players who they really like and with Treliving having already traded for Hanafin once, he'll likely at least put in a call, if he hasn't already.