Maple Leafs Reportedly Interested in Acquiring Pair of Montreal Canadiens
Photo credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images
The Maple Leafs are hoping to beef up their lineup with the trade deadline approaching, and a top NHL Insider thinks they're interested in two Montreal Canadiens.
It's going to be a crucial postseason for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have advanced past Round 1 on only a single occasion since 2004.
A pair of their star players, Mitch Marner and John Tavares, are in the final year of their contracts, and their future with the franchise remains unclear, though it's believed that both would like to remain in Toronto beyond this season.
As the Trade Deadline approaches, Leafs general manager Brad Treliving is said to be interested in beefing up his lineup to make a lengthy postseason run.
Per analyst Pierre LeBrun in his most recent "NHL Rumblings" piece for The Athletic, he notes that the Leafs have checked in on a pair of players from their Atlantic Division foes, the Montreal Canadiens. The pair of players they may attempt to acquire are Jake Evans and Joel Armia.
"The Habs remain open to trading Jake Evans, however they've also communicated to teams they're not trading him for the sake of trading him. Montreal has got lots of draft picks. If teams don't pay up, the Canadiens seem legitimately fine keeping Evans and see value in him helping the team the rest of the way.
The Winnipeg Jets, New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild, Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers are among the teams that I believe have checked in on Evans and/or fellow pending UFA forward Joel Armia.
And the Leafs have seemingly called on every center available on the market, so it's no surprise they would have checked in on Evans."
The Winnipeg Jets, New Jersey Devils, Minnesota Wild, Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers are among the teams that I believe have checked in on Evans and/or fellow pending UFA forward Joel Armia.
And the Leafs have seemingly called on every center available on the market, so it's no surprise they would have checked in on Evans."
Evans has 27 points (11G, 16A) in 59 games, while Armia has 24 points (10G, 14A) 59 games. Acquiring multiple pieces in the same deal may be just what the Leafs are looking to do to avoid parting out numerous assets to separate teams in order to secure the upgrades they feel they may need in April and beyond.
The pair of Canadiens forwards play together regularly on the penalty kill.
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