The Maple Leafs May Have Tipped Their Hand on What Their Next Move Will Be

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been diligently working the phones this summer in an attempt to acquire a top-6 forward after the loss of Mitch Marner.

They were reportedly engaged in trade talks with Buffalo over forward John-Jason
Peterka before he was eventually moved to Utah. In exchange for the German forward, the Maple Leafs were reportedly discussing the possibility of moving defenseman Brandon Carlo in the deal.

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman alluded to the idea that the Leafs could look to dangle a defensemen in order to find their coveted top-6forward. Perhaps the acquisition of Henry Thrun from the San Jose Sharks was a precursor to a much bigger move involving one of their own defensemen.

Morgan Rielly and Chris Tanev carry full NMCs and Jake McCabe owns a full NTC, which leaves Brandon Carlo, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Simon Benoit as the obvious candidates. Carlo and Ekman-Larsson have modified NTCs, whereas Benoit is free of any clauses, though he does have the lowest salary.

The Leafs may be quietly gauging the market for Carlo, but having Thrun in the picture makes things a little more interesting.

They could keep their defensive corps as is and either utilize the 24-year-old as an extra body, or send him down to the minors.

However, he did average nearly 19 minutes per game in 2 full seasons with the Sharks as well as time on both special teams units.

Defensemen like Carlo are hard to come by, which was evidenced by the trade package the Leafs parted with to get him in the first place, as they sent prospect Fraser Minten and a first round pick to the Boston Bruins at the trade deadline.

There's no question that Carlo would yield the best return between he, OEL and Benoit, but with Morgan Rielly finally having a stable partner with whom he works very well, maybe dealing him for a forward isn't the most intelligent decision.