Insider Confirms Maple Leafs' Trade Deadline Plans Have Taken an Intriguing Turn
Photo credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman has suggested that the Maple Leafs' plans for the upcoming trade deadline have taken quite an intriguing turn.
Over the weekend, Leafs GM Brad Treliving issued some comments that weren't too exciting to read if you're a member of the Leafs' fan base. The essence of what he had stated was that the Leafs have many irons in the fire, but that they may not bring in any of the top names available.
Whether this was honesty, or just posturing within the market to make it seem as though they're not overly desperate is up for debate, but during Monday's edition of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Elliotte Friedman certainly made it seem like the Leafs intend to be active at the deadline.
The Leafs have questionable depth down the middle behind Auston Matthews and John Tavares, but after being connected to players like Scott Laughton and Brayden Schenn, there's too much smoke for there to not be a fire.
Not only have the Leafs been linked to a handful of the top centre targets on the market, but the latest comments from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman indicate that they've entered the market for a defenseman as well. In addition, they are still intrigued by Mikko Rantanen as well, according to Friedman's report.
"I wonder if they're thinking about [defensemen]. Not only for performance reasons, but look, Tanev's hurt, he's going to be fine, but he just got hurt.
Ekman-Larsson played Sunday, he got hurt the other night against the Rangers -- I just wonder if they want insurance...
They're going to add a forward, most likely a centre, and like I said... it's Treliving's M.O., if there's any Rantanen out there, even if it's just a rental, he looks at it."
Ekman-Larsson played Sunday, he got hurt the other night against the Rangers -- I just wonder if they want insurance...
They're going to add a forward, most likely a centre, and like I said... it's Treliving's M.O., if there's any Rantanen out there, even if it's just a rental, he looks at it."
If the Leafs do happen to land Rantanen, it's unlikely that they also add one of the centres they've been linked to.
However, it's still possible that if the Leafs add Rantanen, they still poke around for a 3rd line centre or 3rd pairing defenseman with a more modest price tag than someone like Brayden Schenn or Scott Laughton.
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MARS 3 | 3833 ANSWERS Insider Confirms Maple Leafs' Trade Deadline Plans Have Taken an Intriguing Turn Do you want to see the Leafs truly push all-in and acquire Mikko Rantanen? | ||
| Yes | 2086 | 54.4 % |
| No | 1747 | 45.6 % |
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