Here we are, nearly halfway through the NHL season, and the Toronto Maple Leafs are just two points out of a playoff spot.
The Shanaplan is working.
When your team has made one playoff appearance in 11 years and it came in an asterisked lockout-shortened 48-game season, it could be easy to feel that you should get aggressive in trying to push across the finish line and make a trade or two to bolster an area of weakness.
But as Brendan Shanahan told Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston in early December, the Leafs are going to focus on continuing to develop and stick to The Shanaplan. OK so he didn’t call it that by name, but this is the name the Maple Leafs rebuild goes by.
Still, the Leafs are in a position to win in a way they probably didn’t envision for at least another year or two. They probably didn’t expect Auston Matthews to come right into the NHL as a player on pace for 40 goals, or for Mitch Marner to transition so easily to be on pace for 60-plus points.
If they did make a move, it would probably be for a defenceman to help boost a bit of a problem area for the team. While they are among the league leaders in shots and goals for, they also give up among the most shots and goals against. The trouble is, if you want a blue liner, it’s been a seller’s market since the Adam Larsson for Taylor Hall trade in the summer.
So if they went down that road, Toronto might have to give up a player they’re not prepared to part with yet.
“For defencemen right now it’s expensive,” Elliotte Friedman said Friday on Sportsnet 590 The Fan in Toronto.
“You look at what Edmonton had to give up to get a defenceman last year. That’s what they’re kind of doing with a guy like (James) van Riemsdyk, is if he goes they’re hoping it’s for a defenceman. I mean look, I’m just throwing this out there, I think if for any reason a guy like (William) Nylander could get them a defenceman too, I wonder if they would think about it.”
This doesn’t mean there won’t be any somewhat affordable options out there come trade deadline on Feb. 28. Friedman mentioned one 26-year-old defenceman in particular as a guy who may not cost such a premium to acquire. Of course, if a few teams start making offers on him, the price would likely rise.
“Probably the guy who’s going to get a lot of attention, and he doesn’t get a lot right now, is Michael Stone in Arizona,” Friedman said. “He’s an unrestricted free agent after this year, pretty decent player. I think he’s a name you’re going to hear a lot.”
It’s unlikely the Leafs will be very big sellers at the deadline again, although trading van Riemsdyk is a possibility if the team doesn’t feel as though it can re-sign him when his $4.25 million contract runs out after next season. If they do trade him, it’d probably be better to do it now when he still has a full season on his contract, rather than next season when teams may not be willing to give up as much for an expiring contract.
But, as Friedman noted, management won’t want to make it seem to the players as though winning doesn’t matter this season. So, if van Riemsdyk moves, expect it to be for a significant return. But is JVR himself even enough to acquire some of the hot names on the market right now?
“Defencemen are very, very hard to come by,” Friedman said. “It’s interesting, it sounds like a lot of teams are trying to get their hands on Brandon Carlo, the young defenceman from Boston, but so far they’ve resisted Jacob Trouba and Gabriel Landeskog deals for him. So that tells you that if you want a young player or young player with term it’s going to cost you and it’s going to cost you big.”
Heck, even a relatively cheaper option like Stone may not be of great interest to the Leafs. While they won’t give up on winning, they may still be reluctant to move anything much off the depth chart that could help them down the road.
“A rental guy like Michael Stone, I’m not sure the leafs will want to pay that price because even though I think they’re going for it as a team this year, they still do look at the big picture,” Friedman said.
The bottom line is, the Leafs are playing with house money right now and a playoff appearance would be gravy. No need to rush the finish line — even better days are ahead.
