Leafs Fans Don’t Panic: Trading for Two-way Defenceman Will Right The Ship

The Toronto Maple Leafs need more production from their blueline.

The Maple Leafs rank dead last in the NHL when it comes to goals from their defencemen, with just seven goals through their first 37 games. Through the month of December, the Maple Leafs have zero goals from their blueline, and with a lack of secondary scoring becoming a storyline, GM Brad Treliving needs to do his best to try and find a two-way defenseman on the trade market.

Morgan Rielly leads the Leafs blueline with four goals on the year, meanwhile Conor Timmins has one, Chris Tanev has one, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson has also scored. That’s it, and that’s concerning. Circling back to when Craig Berube led the St. Louis Blues to a Stanley Cup in 2019, during the regular season the team received a ton of secondary scoring from their blueline. Alex Pietrangelo scored 13 times, Vince Dunn had 12 snipes, Colton Parayko also hit double-digits with ten. Right now, the Maple Leafs will be lucky to have one defenceman score ten.

The same can be said during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. During Berube’s Cup run in 2019, St. Louis got postseason goals from six different defensemen. If you look at the 2024 Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers blueline, it was much of the same story, as their back end came up with timely goals. The Panthers had Gustav Forsling lead the way with four goals, meanwhile five of their six regulars on the back end contributed. Right now, the Maple Leafs don’t have enough two-way talent on their blueline, and it’s something Treliving needs to address before March’s trade deadline.

So, who could be potential trade targets? The mentioned Dunn, now with the Seattle Kraken has seven goals in 17 games this season, but his $7.3-million AAV for two more seasons isn’t the type of contract Treliving can creatively add to the roster.

What about Jake Walman of the San Jose Sharks? The 28-year-old is signed through the 2025-26 season at $3.4 million AAV, and has recorded five goals and 25 points in 30 games this season. Walman’s playing close to 23 minutes a night for the Sharks, and not only can help run a power play, also plays heavy minutes on the penalty kill. He’s a volume shooter with 80 shots on goal, which would rank him 1st among Leafs’ defencemen, 15 more than any of Toronto’s blueliners. The Sharks are not making the Stanley Cup Playoffs, so GM Mike Grier will very likely be listening to trade offers on most of his veterans.

Depending on how the Montreal Canadiens perform throughout January and February, GM Kent Hughes could be open to making some adjustments. Could Mike Matheson become available? Matheson, 30, is signed through next season at $4.8-million AAV, and has scored just two goals this season, but put up 11 goals and 62 points in 82 games in 2023-24. There may be a ‘rivalry premium’ for trying to acquire inter-divisional talent, but considering the Maple Leafs window to win is right now, Treliving shouldn’t be sitting on his wallet when it comes to moving prospects and draft picks.

Besides Walman and Matheson, another defenseman to keep an eye on is Rasmus Andersson of the Calgary Flames. The Flames have managed to navigate a slow start, and are closing in on a wild-card spot, however, if the Flames faulter in Jan/Feb, trade chatter surrounding Andersson is going to skyrocket. Treliving should at least do his best to smooth the waters with his old workplace, and make a strong offer to try and land Andersson in Toronto.

At the end of the day, it comes down to the ‘what’ and not necessarily the ‘who’. The Maple Leafs have a serious problem with production from their blueline, and it’s on Treliving to pull the trigger on a move that’s going to help secure some more secondary scoring for the second half of the season, and more importantly, for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.