The Toronto Maple Leafs have been targeting a centre for some time now, and reports have varied as they look to improve their roster in hopes of making a deep playoff push. In his recent 32 Thoughts podcast article, Elliotte Friedman mentioned that he believes the Maple Leafs would prefer to add a centre with term left on their contract, but that might not be what ends up happening considering the current market. While there could be plenty of options available when looking around the league at rebuilding teams that could consider selling, insider Darren Dreger shed some light on some realistic options after some fans have begun to wonder if they would spend big and go after a big-name player, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
Related: Maple Leafs Would Prefer to Acquire Centre With Term
In a recent segment on Insider Trading, Dreger dropped seven names that he believed could be realistic trade targets for the Maple Leafs. In the segment, he mentioned New York Islanders’ Brock Nelson, Anaheim Ducks’ Ryan Strome, Nashville Predators’ Ryan O’Reilly, Utah Hockey Clubs’ Nick Bjugstad, Philadelphia Flyers’ Scott Laughton, San Jose Sharks’ Mikael Granlund, and Seattle Kraken’s Yanni Gourde. He shut down any idea of a player like Dylan Cozens, considering the Maple Leafs’ salary cap situation likely limits their ability to acquire a star-caliber centre. With that, let’s take a look at all seven options.
Dreger’s Seven Options
Nelson, who is 33 years old, is in the final season of his current six-year contract and has a cap hit of $6 million. He was drafted in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft at 30th overall after a strong season with Warroad High in the USHS-MN where he scored 39 goals and added 34 assists for 73 points through 25 games. His cap hit is quite high, but if the Islanders are willing to retain some money, the Maple Leafs could show interest in bringing him in for a depth role.
Strome, who is 31 years old, is in the third season of his five-year contract with the Ducks and has a $5 million cap hit. He was drafted in the first round of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft by the Islanders at 5th overall after a strong season in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the Niagra IceDogs where he scored 33 goals and added 73 assists for 106 points through 63 games. He is a consistent 40-point scorer and could contribute well in a depth role with the Maple Leafs.
O’Reilly, who is 33 years old, is in the second season of his four-year contract with the Predators and has a $4.5 million cap hit. He was drafted in the second round of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Avalanche at 33rd overall after an offensive breakout in the OHL with the Erie Otters where he scored 16 goals and added 50 assists for 66 points through 68 games. He has established himself as a dominant two-way forward, and during his previous stint with the Maple Leafs, he dominated the faceoff circle and looked like a perfect depth fit.
Bjugstad, who is 32 years old, is in the second season of his two-year contract with Utah and has a $2.1 million cap hit. He was drafted in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft at 19th overall by the Florida Panthers and has established himself as a physical two-way centre who is dominant in the faceoff circle, excelling in a depth role.
Laughton, who is 30 years old, is in the fourth season of his five-year contract with the Flyers and has a $3 million cap hit. He was drafted in the first round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Flyers at 20th overall and has remained one of their most consistent two-way forwards throughout his career.
Granlund, who is 32 years old, is in the final season of his four-year contract with the Sharks and has a $5 million cap hit. He was drafted in the first round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild at 9th overall and has been dominant offensively over the past two seasons with the Sharks, despite them being in a brutal rebuild currently.
Gourde, who is 33 years old, is in the final season of his six-year contract with the Kraken and has a $5,166,667 cap hit. He was undrafted and has established himself as a strong two-way centre who has helped the Kraken find some success since they joined the league as an expansion team, consistently hitting the 30-point plateau.
Matter of Time Before Move Is Made?
All seven of these options could be strong additions, but it would require some money being moved around for any of them to be brought to the Maple Leafs. It shouldn’t be hard to move some money out, but they may have to be willing to part with future assets if they want any team to retain salary of any of these players considering their large cap hits.
Regardless, it seems like a matter of time before the Maple Leafs make a move to add a centre. They are in a good spot at the top of the Atlantic Division, and it would be smart for them to make a move sooner rather than later, to get the new player comfortable with the team as they try to set themselves up for a successful playoff run.
As the 2024-25 season moves along, be sure to continue following The Hockey Writers as your source for news from around the NHL and the hockey world.
