Trade chatter eating up involving scoring winger with term remaining on current deal; could he be a fit for the Leafs?
It's no secret that Leafs GM Kyle Dubas prefers to target players with term remaining to avoid the potential of losing valuable assets for nothing. After the Nick Foligno trade bit him in the butt in 2021, Dubas has been a bit gun-shy when it comes to using 1st round picks and/or top prospects on big name rentals ever since, opting instead to use 2nd and 3rd round picks to acquire his deadline adds in Colin Blackwell and Mark Giordano last year.
There are a number of potential options available to Dubas this year who do have some term remaining on their deals. Some of those players include Jake McCabe, Jakob Chychrun and even pending RFA Timo Meier (though his qualifying offer is a staggering $10M). The Leafs could also take a run at acquiring a player like Conor Garland, who has 3 years remaining on his deal in Vancouver. However, there is another name in Vancouver that could also make sense for Dubas and company. Brock Boeser.
Boeser has 2 more years remaining on his current deal, which carries a $6.65M cap hit, and if the Canucks are willing to retain some salary, Boeser could fit nicely into the Leafs' top 6. Boeser has struggled at times with injury throughout his career, never having played a full 82-game season, so the move would not come without a certain level of concern, but when he is healthy, Boeser has been a pretty productive player during his career, scoring 23 or more goals in 4 of his last 6 seasons.
Per The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta, trade chatter has picked up significantly over the weekend, coming off of the All-Star break. Pagnotta confirmed that the Canucks are expected to either take back a contract in the deal or will agree to retain salary. Just how much they'd be willing to retain would depend on the return, I'm sure. The question is; would Boeser be a good fit in Toronto? Or would the assets that the Leafs would spend to acquire him be better spent elsewhere on someone who is a little more durable?
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 6 | 245 ANSWERS Trade chatter eating up involving scoring winger with term remaining on current deal; could he be a fit for the Leafs? Should the Leafs make a push to acquire Brock Boeser from the Canucks? | ||
| Yes | 96 | 39.2 % |
| No | 149 | 60.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
