Hypothetical Leafs trades: the Jakob Chychrun edition

Despite the fact that the Leafs are no longer defensively inept, that doesn't necessarily mean that there isn't room for improvement - and cquiring Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun would certainly improve the Leafs' top four.

Last week, Real Kyper and Bourne's Nick Kypreos said during a segment on Sportsnet's 590 The FAN that he has heard that Jakob Chychrun is very much in play and that he may be one of the most talked about guys this season, with Arizona going down the road of a full-blown rebuild.

Kyper stated that the Maple Leafs were one of the teams with legitimate interest in Chychrun and that they could absolutely make his $4.6M cap hit work.

Say what you will about Kypreos and the fact that his track record for accuracy is not great. However, when a player like Jakob Chychrun's name is floating around out there, you had better believe that there are 31 other interested teams.

So.. what does a potential return for Chychrun look like? Well, Kypreos believes that the deal is 4 pieces, much like what we saw Jack Eichel return. A good roster player, a top prospect, a 1st round pick and a 2nd round pick.

Considering the fact that the Leafs would have to move some money to make it happen, we can assume that the Leafs would have to move out a contract or two to open up the appropriate cap space. You'd have to think that Nick Ritchie and his $2.5M contract through next season would be a good start.

With a blueliner coming in, the Leafs could justify parting with one of their own, and given how rough of a season he's had, a change of scenery for Justin Holl makes sense.

Now, while Arizona may or may not want to take on either player, there were plenty of suitors in on Nick Ritchie in free agency. In addition, since Justin Holl is a right shot and has top 4 experience, the Leafs should have no issues finding a dance partner, potentially even securing a 2nd round pick for Holl, which would bring in one of the pieces needed for a Chychrun deal. If those two move for strictly picks and prospects, the Leafs will have cleared $4.5M in cap space.

The next step is putting together a package that would be enticing enough for Arizona to want to pull the trigger on a Chychrun deal with mostly futures coming back the other way.

Believe it or not, the Leafs have what it would take to pull it off. Whether or not they would pay the price is a different story. For the sake of argument, let's say that they might.

The Leafs own their own first rounders in 2022 and 2023. Package one of those with the 2nd round pick they'd get back in the Justin Holl deal and you've got two pieces out of the way.

In terms of which top prospect they could include, both Rodion Amriov and Nick Robertson have had injury issues and there are some legitimate concerns over whether or not their development has been stunted as a result. If you include one of these two prospects, you'd now have 3 of the 4 pieces required.

The one piece that poses the most difficulty for the Leafs is the good roster player. The core 4 are certainly off the table. Bunting just came from Arizona via free agency, so he's likely out. Kerfoot, Engvall and Mikheyev are likely not enticing enough. Jake Muzzin has a NTC that he would have to waive in order to be traded, and I don't think he'd waive for Arizona at this stage of his career. So what could the Leafs do to get creative here?

Why not pull off another trade with a cap strapped team to bring in the piece we need? The Vegas Golden Knights come to mind, as they'll need to move out some money to make space for Jack Eichel. The Leafs could make a move for a player like Jonathan Marchessault to give them the piece they would need to complete the package.

Marchessault, Amirov, a 1st round pick and a 2nd round pick would be quite the haul for the rebuilding Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Chychrun, who would instantly cause some very good problems on Toronto's blueline.

Armchair GM moves are a lot of fun to contemplate, and while this is not necessarily a deal that I believe would happen, it's still fun to think about.