Toronto Maple Leafs Kicking Tires on Tyler Myers Trade

If the Vancouver Canucks elect to make defenseman Tyler Myers available via trade, expect the Toronto Maple Leafs to be among the teams interested, reports Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun. Garrioch noted that the Leafs have been kicking tires the big man and while there are potentially big drawbacks to going this route, it sounds like GM Kyle Dubas isn’t afraid to look under every rock to find a solution in Toronto where the team’s blue line has been hit pretty hard.

According to Garrioch :

There’s also been talk the Vancouver Canucks are willing to move defenceman Tyler Myers and the Leafs have been among the teams kicking tires there.

Myers has a modified 10-team, no-trade clause that kicks in on July 1 and he’s making $6 million per season on the cap over the next two seasons. He’s actually paid a lot less than that in actual salary, so there is the potential that he could be traded more easily than if he was a straight $6M cap hit, but the Leafs would have to eat his $5 million signing bonus in the last year of a deal then hope to find another organization with more cap room than money to spend.

The issue most fans will have in Toronto isn’t the dollar value. It’s the fact that regardless of what Myers is paid, his numbers are less-than-stellar. During his four seasons, he’s posted 13 goals, and 51 assists and eats up over 20 minutes per night. Unfortunately, during those 20 minutes, the Canucks are often caved in defensively. He is not going to be the answer for the Maple Leafs’ right side and if the team goes there, it could be difficult to do anything else down the road and heading into the postseason.

This isn’t the first time the Leafs have been linked to Myers. There was talk back in 2019 when he was a free agent that the Leafs were intrigued.

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