It’s not the first time this season — and it won’t be the last — that representatives from teams take in other games around the league as scouting ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline heats up.
After a team rep was at the game between the Los Angeles Kings and New York Rangers on January 20, the Toronto Maple Leafs had two representatives at the game between the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators on January 23 in Montreal.
Now, with the Maple Leafs, there have been rumblings that they could be buyers at the deadline. At the same time, there have been reports going the other way. Either way, they are looking around the league at options and with that in mind, here are three possible targets they could have from the Canadiens-Senators game.
Mathieu Joseph
Having been around for five seasons already, it’s easy to forget that Mathieu Joseph is only 26 years old. Now, the Senators are far from being sellers, considering they are right on the brink of taking the next step — at least on paper — but they could be willing to move the depth forward for the right cost.
His best season offensively came, coincidentally, when he was traded to the Senators late in the 2021-22 season. He scored 12 goals and finished the year with 30 points in 69 games between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Senators.
That said, this season he’s on pace for an even more offensive year. He has eight goals and 22 points in 34 games this season with the Senators and while he’s averaging just over 16 minutes per game — which likely wouldn’t be the case in Toronto — he would bring experience to the team’s bottom six.
After all, Joseph was a member of the Lightning teams that won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons in 2019-20 and 2020-21. He can play a physical game with nearly 500 hits in his career and has the ability to be on the team’s penalty kill as an extra option to what they already have.
While the cost for Joseph would likely be steep for a bottom six forward, he does add a lot to the lineup and could give the Maple Leafs some more consistent offence from their bottom six — something they’ve dearly missed in previous playoff runs.
Sean Monahan
Another player that has been rumoured to be on the block is Canadiens’ forward Sean Monahan. On the verge of being 30, Monahan is having a bounce back season in Montreal with 13 goals and 34 points in just 48 games so far this season — his highest offensive total since 2019-20 with the Calgary Flames.
Like Joseph, Monahan likely wouldn’t get the same amount of ice-time in Toronto, as he’s averaging over 18 minutes per game so far this season, but the offensive production could give the Maple Leafs some stability lower in the lineup.
At 6-foot-2 and just under 200 pounds, Monahan does play with a slight edge and he can play in all situations — both on the power play and shorthanded. His possession numbers aren’t incredible, but his Corsi For Percentage (CF%) remains just slightly higher than 50 percent.
Monahan — because of age and recency bias — might not cost as much as Joseph, but he still won’t be cheap. Add to that the fact that he would be a rental for the Maple Leafs and Brad Treliving might not be willing to pull the trigger depending on the final cost.
Jakob Chychrun
Well, we had him on our list of Maple Leafs’ wants last season and once again Jakob Chychrun’s name has come up. While he’s shut down any trade talks coming out of the hockey world, he would bring in a haul for the Senators who could use a big grab for next season.
That said, Chychrun does have a modified no-trade clause with a 10-team no-trade list that kicked in this season, but he has just one season left on his current contract with an annual average value of $4.6 million. Needless to say, the Maple Leafs would have to some cap finagling to get a move done.
But he’s a great option for a team that has been starving for a top pairing defenceman for some time. He can play in all situations and has a strong offensive mind to go along with a 200-foot game that makes him a legitimate one or two on a strong team.
With injuries to the Senators’ defence this season, Chychrun has eight goals and 28 points in 45 games while averaging over 22 minutes of ice-time per game. At 25, he’s still got a lot of hockey in front of him and while injuries have stalled his progress, he has averaged almost a point every two games over his career thus far.
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Talking price tag? It would take a lot to get Chychrun out of Ottawa and that’s if the Maple Leafs aren’t on that no-trade list. That said, in an ideal world, Chychrun could add some scoring to their back end and should be a target for Treliving and his staff.
It may be unrealistic to look for an in-division trade especially amongst rivals, but with the representatives there, you have to assume they are looking at someone. After all, the Maple Leafs will be looking to make another run this season and improve on last season’s second-round exit, but to do that they need to address a couple things in their lineup for overall consistency.
