Insider fears that the Leafs may be leaning towards cheaping out in their search for a defenseman
There's a lot of speculation right now over what the Leafs are going to do on the blueline after having their 3rd top-6 defenseman come out of the lineup with a significant injury. The obvious idea here is that the Leafs are going to look to make a trade sooner rather than later, after Mark Giordano suffered a broken finger on Tuesday, which now has him on the shelf on a week-to-week basis. However, as one insider has pointed out, their target may have changed.
The Leafs have been heavily linked to a pair of pending UFA defensemen in Calgary in Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov, but according to Elliotte Friedman, the Leafs may no longer be interested in dealing any significant assets for a pure rental, much like they did in the Ryan O'Reilly deal ahead of last season's trade deadline.
On Thursday, Friedman joined 32 Thoughts co-host Jeff Marek on The Jeff Marek Show and revealed that the thought process in Toronto is shifting more towards either a player with term or a pending UFA whom they have permission to talk to prior to a deal being struck, so they know they're not committing quality assets in a deal for a player who may not be with the team beyond this season.
"I think there are some questions being asked inside about 'what makes sense for us right now?'... to me, I'm beginning to wonder if they're thinking like sheer rentals for a high price, like the Ryan O'Reilly's of the world... I don't know if they think that that's a good idea.
I don't think they've made [the decision on standing pat versus trading for a player with term] one way or the other, but I think they're thinking about it.
A depth D or something like that for a later pick, or like a smaller prospect, I don't [see] any issue with that. The fact is, with how long [Mark] Giordano is out, they might have to do [something] anyway, so that I could see.
If someone's saying to you, 'okay, we've got a UFA defenseman and we're asking for like a first round pick, or one of your top prospects', I just don't think [they're] doing that.
Now, I'll say this; if you're talking about, say, a Tanev or a Zadorov or somebody else, and you either get permission to talk to them or, nudge nudge, wink wink, think you can sign them, then I think we're talking about something else entirely. But I just don't think a top rental for a high price, I'm not convinced that they're going to believe that it makes sense for them." - Friedman on the Leafs
I don't think they've made [the decision on standing pat versus trading for a player with term] one way or the other, but I think they're thinking about it.
A depth D or something like that for a later pick, or like a smaller prospect, I don't [see] any issue with that. The fact is, with how long [Mark] Giordano is out, they might have to do [something] anyway, so that I could see.
If someone's saying to you, 'okay, we've got a UFA defenseman and we're asking for like a first round pick, or one of your top prospects', I just don't think [they're] doing that.
Now, I'll say this; if you're talking about, say, a Tanev or a Zadorov or somebody else, and you either get permission to talk to them or, nudge nudge, wink wink, think you can sign them, then I think we're talking about something else entirely. But I just don't think a top rental for a high price, I'm not convinced that they're going to believe that it makes sense for them." - Friedman on the Leafs
Obviously, we don't know what Brad Treliving is thinking or if he's been talking to any other rival GMs about defensemen yet, but I think it's pretty reasonable to expect that a move of some kind is made, given the circumstances. Whether or not that move will be of a higher profile or a lower profile remains to be seen.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 30 | 456 ANSWERS Insider fears that the Leafs may be leaning towards cheaping out in their search for a defenseman Will you be mad if the Leafs decide to "cheap out" and acquire a non-impact defenseman? | ||
| Yes, they need a top-4 defenseman | 335 | 73.5 % |
| No, I'd rather than cheap out than overpay | 56 | 12.3 % |
| Don't care either way - we just need SOMEONE | 65 | 14.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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