Versatile Forward Suddenly Becomes Available and Could Be a Potential Fit for the Maple Leafs
With the Pittsburgh Penguins potentially entering a fire sale, the Maple Leafs have the opportunity to land an inexpensive, versatile forward in Drew O'Connor.
The Penguins may have already started the ball rolling towards a rebuild when they dealt Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes last season.
The goal prior to the start of the season was to try to put a competitive product out on the ice in hopes of maximizing the final years of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. However, a 6-9-3 start to the season has the Pens reportedly looking at a major roster shuffle, with Kyle Dubas reportedly willing to trade anyone not named Sidney Crosby.
Dubas and company have already completed one trade this season, sending center Lars Eller to the Washington Capitals in exchange for a pair of draft picks.
Now, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, Marcus Pettersson and Drew O'Connor could be the next pieces to move.
O'Connor, 26, is a 6'3 forward who can play both wing and center. After producing a career high 16 goals and 33 points in 2023-24, the hope was the O'Connor would continue to make positive strides this season. However, that hasn't been the case, with the New Jersey native a -14 to begin the season with just 3 goals and 4 points through 18 games. He could really benefit from a change of scenery.
For the Leafs, the salary cap has provided a ton of hurdles in recent years, which makes cost-efficient players like O'Connor a hot commodity.
On top of O'Connor's offensive production last season, he was also a defensively responsible forward, blocking 58 shots and landing 53 hits. He also posted a positive takeaway to giveaway ratio, at 37 takeaways to 28 giveaways.
Something that might make sense for the Leafs could be to move one of their more expensive forwards, such as David Kampf ($2.4M AAV) or Calle Jarnkrok ($2.1M AAV) and replace one of them with the $925,000 O'Connor to help alleviate the cap jam the Leafs have found themselves in this season, especially because he has the ability to play a similar role and could provide a higher level of secondary scoring.
As we approach the quarter mark of the season, the Leafs are sitting in a pretty good spot, owners of a 10-6-2 record, good for 2nd in the Atlantic Division. It's early, but the Leafs do appear to have the makings of a team that will be looking to add at the deadline. Saving themselves some cap space now could go a long way in helping them to add more later.
