Canucks clear a large amount of cap space, declare their interest in a popular Leafs trade target
The Toronto Maple Leafs need some help on the blueline and that's not exactly breaking news to anyone. Since the summer, Brad Treliving had been looking to shore up the blueline and, most recently, the Leafs have been linked in trade talks with the Calgary Flames over defenseman Nikita Zadorov.
As interested as the Leafs are in Zadorov, it would appear as though the stakes have just been raised. Per ESPN's Kevin Weekes, the Leafs' pursuit of Zadorov may have just gotten a little harder after the Canucks cleared out over $4M of cap space on Tuesday by trading Anthony Beauvillier to Chicago and throwing their hat into the mix for Zadorov's services.
Prior to Vancouver declaring their interest in Zadorov, the four teams who were believed to be the frontrunners for his services were the Leafs, Islanders, Stars and Devils. It looks like we're going to have a bit of a bidding war now.
Zadorov, a 6'6, 248-pound defenseman, checks just about every box that the Leafs are looking to check. We still don't know what Calgary is looking for in a deal for the Russian blueliner, but it's probably safe to say that with all the suitors, the price has likely gone up.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 29 | 618 ANSWERS Canucks clear a large amount of cap space, declare their interest in a popular Leafs trade target Will the Canucks jump in and swipe Zadorov from under Brad Treliving's nose? | ||
| Yes | 316 | 51.1 % |
| No | 154 | 24.9 % |
| Tanev is the guy we should go after anyway | 148 | 23.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
