Leafs reportedly pursuing big, mean, right handed defender

Things came to a head on Wednesday night, Klingberg was on the ice for 4 goals against in the Leafs' loss to the Sens. At practice on Thursday, Klingberg was demoted to the 7th defenseman slot and appears to be a healthy scratch for what is a must-win game tomorrow against the struggling Calgary Flames.

Interestingly, the solution for the Leafs' defensive issues may actually be a Calgary defenseman. It was Brad Treliving who signed Nikita Zadorov to a 2-year deal paying $3.75M per season when he was GM of the Flames last year. Now Kevin Weekes is reporting that the Leafs are one of 4 teams actively pursuing the big Russian defender. Weekes also mentioned Chris Tanev, who is a shot blocking machine, but with T.J. Brodie and Mark Giordano diving in front of pucks on a nightly basis, Zadorov brings a couple of elements the Leafs sorely need: size and ferocity.

Seriously, get this guy a Leafs jersey ASAP.

At this point, I don't care in the slightest if Zadorov puts up a single point in a Leafs jersey. The Leafs have no issues scoring goals right now, it's stopping them that's an issue. Having a player like Zadorov will have opponents' heads on a swivel at all times. Pair him up with Jake McCabe for a hard-hitting shut down pairing, or split them up and spend 2/3 of the game with a defender on the ice who can absolutely drop opponents. Considering how the team is currently constructed, Zadorov would be a much more impactful player than Klingberg is right now.