Équipe: 2016-17 Maple Leafs de Toronto

Date de création initiale: 5 nov. 2016

Publié: 5 nov. 2016

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

THE TRADE:

I think its obvious that this defence has holes. There is a lack of reliable and consistent defensive play and it shows. The leafs are 4th in the league in goals against and 6th in shots against per game. There is a need for an injection of stability on this blue line and I think Kevin Klein can do just that. The Rangers have put Dan Girardi back on the top pairing and Klein has ultimately suffered. The Frank Corrado situation in Toronto has been unfair to him and I think trading him at this point would be best for all. With the addition of Lindberg, who I believe is a top end B Prospect and a 4th, I believe we could pry Klein away.

D PAIRING CHANGES:

The purpose of this trade was to find a D partner for Morgan Rielly. Klein is a right shot and classified as a "shutdown Defenceman." Further, I think that sheltering their minutes from opposing team top lines would be beneficial. The leafs organization always preaches patience and fully developing them. Putting Rielly against the top oppositions in a sense is like 'throwing him to the wolves.' You see all these guys like Trouba and Parayko with unbelievable advanced statistics sand its because they both get "sheltered minutes" and a lot of power play time. Gardiner is the most experienced D in our top 4 so lets see him handle the load. There is a current debate over whether Gardiner is as good as his so called amazing advanced stats say he is. This would be a great test. Him and Zaitsev are both complete 2 way defencemen and should at least get a shot at taking on the best. Aside from Carrick, the rest of the D could essentially rotate in.

LINE CHANGES:

The only real change here is switching Hyman and Soshnikov. Although our top line has experienced success, i believe their recent struggles can be the result of Hyman. He's a great power forward, but he just can't keep up skillfully. Soshnikov isn't as big, and may be more of an energy player than a power forward, but nonetheless he would bring a physical side to this line, without compromising any skill. Hyman would then take a spot on the 4th line with Martin and Ben Smith and Matt Martin. I hope when Josh Leivo is back from injury he gets a legit shot. Other than him Griffith and Holland can rotate in.