According to Elliotte Friedman, expect the Toronto Maple Leafs to be a team often mentioned in connection with any pending Ben Chiarot trade out of Montreal. While the Maple Leafs certainly won’t be the only team interested — St. Louis, Florida, and Calgary are also mentioned — Toronto has had interest before and may potentially have interest again.
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Chiarot has been among the most talked-about trade pieces potentially available at this year’s NHL trade deadline. A pending UFA, it is believed his move out of the Canadiens organization is inevitable, it’s just a matter of which team shows the most interest and offers up the best package. Many insiders suspect he could fetch a first-round pick in return.
Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs have been discussed as a team willing to move salary to open up the option to add before the deadline. Among the things they might be looking for is additional depth on their blue line, especially considering there are some injury concerns and some inexperienced players filling key roles on the roster.
Friedman suggested Toronto is believed to be involved here because when Chiarot signed with Montreal as an unrestricted free agent, Toronto had shown interest in signing him but “they just couldn’t make it work.” He adds, “They liked him, he was interested in them and he is a local guy, he’s a Hamilton guy, right?”
Is Chiarot a Back-Up Plan for Muzzin?
Marek asked Friedman if the Leafs were interested as a way to offer the team insurance in the event Jake Muzzin has more injury trouble. Friedman didn’t believe so because he’s heard the Maple Leafs are confident there’s a best-case scenario situation happening when it comes to Muzzin’s concussion concerns. At the same time, Friedman does acknowledge that it certainly wouldn’t hurt the Maple Leafs to have a backup plan in place should things go sideways in that regard.
The Maple Leafs have also been connected to John Klingberg in trade rumors. Perhaps the defenseman they go for becomes about which player they can theoretically get and give up less to land him.
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gfinale
January 25, 2022 at 8:55 am
The Leafs should not trade a 1st EVER until their team has convincingly won a playoff round and are playing well the next year. At that point, they have a decent chance of doing well and it’s worth the gamble.
gfinale
January 25, 2022 at 9:03 am
It’s not only Muzzin’s current concussion but also he’s getting older, not playing as well and has been injured in the past 2 playoffs! Klingberg isn’t good defensively so they might as well get a forward instead! If they are in need of a defenseman, it’s because they need someone who plays defense!
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