Leafs pushing for Lindholm
During an appearance on The Jeff Marek Show on Monday, NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman may have given Leafs Nation an indication of what to expect at or before the March 21st trade deadline. What exactly does that mean? Well, it means that we could see the Leafs take a healthy run at Anaheim Ducks defender Hampus Lindholm.
Lindholm is one of three marquee players who are rumoured to be available at the deadline. All three of Lindholm, Rickard Rakell and Josh Manson are pending UFA's and Ducks GM Pat Verbeek had indicated a couple of weeks back that if the team was not well on its way to extending these players, that he would not risk losing them for nothing.
On Monday, Friedman stated that he believes that he Leafs have a "really high interest" in Lindholm. Obviously, to accommodate Lindholm's cap hit ($5.2M), the Leafs would have to work out a deal where the Ducks or another team retains some salary - especially if Jake Muzzin is expected back before the playoffs. The other option is to move some salary out, but that would eat away at some of the team's roster depth.
There are some cheaper options available to the Leafs, both in terms of cap hit and in cost of acquisition, such as Calvin de Haan, Colin Miller and potentially someone like Luke Schenn, but the Leafs could really use a boost on the blueline who can play top-4 or potentially even top pairing minutes.
| POLL | ||
MARS 14 | 348 ANSWERS Leafs pushing for Lindholm Is Hampus Lindholm the optimal addition for the Leafs at the deadline? | ||
| Yes. They need a defenseman badly | 145 | 41.7 % |
| No, they need goaltending | 95 | 27.3 % |
| Lindholm plays the left side. We need a RHD | 50 | 14.4 % |
| None of the above | 58 | 16.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
