Ingenious trade scenario emerges for Leafs to land perfect help on the blue line at deadline!

Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving is fully aware he needs to fix his team’s blue line ahead of the trade deadline in order to produce a much longer run into the postseason, however, the question remains at what cost? On Friday, insiders Pierre LeBrun and Chris Johnston had some fun playing trade matchmaker 10 weeks ahead of the deadline and the latter still believes defenseman Chris Tanev of the Calgary Flames is the best option out there for the Maple Leafs to bolster their back end.

It’s been said more than once that Treliving could look to his former team to acquire a boost on defense, and it was even reported that a deal was being worked on in November to land Tanev and Nikita Zadorov, who ended up getting moved to the Vancouver Canucks.

While LeBrun believes Tanev could be moved to the New Jersey Devils, Johnston thinks Toronto will land him, though he admits Treliving will have to come up with an ingenious plan:

“Let’s not overthink things here: Tanev is a heart-and-soul shutdown defender who was brought to Calgary by former Flames general manager Brad Treliving as a free agent in 2020 and now finds himself on an expiring contract with Treliving working for his hometown Maple Leafs and desperately in need of blueline upgrades. It’s a match made in matchmaker heaven! The only real complication comes from the fact Toronto doesn’t own a second-round pick in any of the next three drafts and isn’t likely to part with a first-rounder in a deal built exclusively around Tanev. So, there’s a need for creativity … but there’s still lots of time to get creative.”

There has been chatter that the Flames could ask for talented prospect Nick Abruzzese in a trade for Tanev. Abruzzese was a fourth round pick of the Maple Leafs back in 2019. In his two years at Harvard, he put up an impressive 23 goals and 77 points in 59 games and has continued to impress at the AHL level with the Toronto Marlies.

While this is just a trade scenario from Johnston, this is obviously something that could take place as we get closer to the trade deadline and the Leafs figure out how to land a top defender like Tanev for better chances at a Stanley Cup championship.

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