Evidence suddenly emerges of monster failed trade in Toronto!

When the March trade deadline came around, it was a well-known fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs were looking to add a star defenseman to their roster. Rumours linked them to Chris Tanev for several weeks before he ended up getting moved from the Calgary Flames to the Dallas Stars. However on Friday, Hockey Patrol shared photo evidence on how close the Maple Leafs actually came to landing Tanev in a blockbuster move.

A post on X, formerly known as Twitter, shows a pair of gloves in Maple Leafs colors for Tanev as if the blue liner also came to Toronto.

Tanev was instead acquired by the Stars, who made it all the way to the Western Conference final before they were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers, now heading into the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers.

Though he is not going to fight for the championship, Tanev made it farther into the postseason than he would have with the Maple Leafs, who were ousted in the first round by the Boston Bruins.

Tanev signed a four-year deal with the Flames as a free agent in 2020 and is likely to become a free agent on July, 1st. There is a sense that this summer, Tanev may prefer to instead join on a contender.

This could mean the Maple Leafs could get back in these sweepstakes and who knows, maybe those gloves would come in handy if Toronto gets pieces in place and cap room to get Tanev under contract.

The Stars are also very much interested in keeping the veteran forward, who scored seven points and a +13 rating in 38 regular-season and playoff games in Dallas and averaged over 22 minutes per night in the postseason.