Popular hockey analyst and former NHLer identifies who he believes the Leafs should acquire
Even though the Toronto Maple Leafs have plenty of injuries on their back end, Real Kyper and Bourne's Nick Kypreos believes that their focal point should not be adding a defenseman, but adding a power-forward instead.
The Leafs have done extremely well fending off the injuries as they have posted a 16-3-4 record since November and in doing so they have found several internal and external depth options to keep the boat afloat.
Kypreos believes the Maple Leafs should be going after Josh Anderson of the Montreal Canadiens or Lawson Crouse of the Arizona Coyotes. He wants a gritty, tough, but still good offensive option to play alongside Mitch Marner and John Tavares on the second line.
He mentions that he had heard that Kyle Dubas had interest when Anderson was initially made available by the Columbus Blue Jackets, prior to when he was dealt to Montreal, stating that his physical presence isn't as important for Montreal anymore with the emergence of Arber Xhejak and Michael Pezzetta.
Regardless of how you feel about the Leafs potentially trading for Anderson, money becomes a factor, as he is under contract for 3 more years at a rather lofty $5.5 million AAV, but he says that with Jake Muzzin's LTIR eligibility, the Leafs can take on that contract without a bat of an eye. He believes that acquiring a player of Anderson's stature would make a world of difference when going head to head with the Tampa Bay's and the Boston's of the world.
For a team that is up against the salary cap, that would be a large gamble all things considered. A player of his ilk would do wonders on the Maple Leafs but in terms of trade value and salary cap, it's tough to see this as an actual viable option. I don't have any doubt that Kyle Dubas and Brandon Pridham could find a way to fit Anderson's $5.5M cap hit into their system, but if they're going to spend that kind of money, I think there are better pieces to go after with less long-term risk.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 22 | 279 ANSWERS Popular hockey analyst and former NHLer identifies who he believes the Leafs should acquire Should the Leafs go after Josh Anderson? | ||
| No | 52 | 18.6 % |
| HELL NO | 44 | 15.8 % |
| Maybe | 99 | 35.5 % |
| Yes | 84 | 30.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
