Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs would be ideal trade partners

The Vancouver Canucks are likely to sell at the trade deadline, and they have pieces that can help the Toronto Maple Leafs in their Stanley Cup championship quest. For a variety of reasons, the two teams would be perfect trade partners.

Even if the Vancouver Canucks are in a playoff race when the Feb. 25 trade deadline comes around, it’s reasonable to believe that they’ll be sellers anyway.

Defencemen Chris Tanev and Alexander Edler are this team’s top two trade candidates. Both are top-four defencemen and capable of being difference makers in the playoffs. Tanev is renowned for his excellent defensive game and hockey IQ. Edler is the same, but he carries more offensive upside and can boast a team’s power play with his strong puck moving abilities.

Edler is a free agent at the end of the season, and as Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre notes, the Canucks have different options with him. They could re-sign Edler, let him walk in free agency, trade him and re-sign Edler in the offseason, or trade the 32-year-old and part ways for good.

Tanev is only signed through through the 2019-20 season, and given his injury history, the Canucks could be nervous about giving him an extension.

Either way, it makes sense for the Canucks to trade one or both, especially if they can get nice returns. And no team could use Edler and/or Tanev more than the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have one of the league’s worst defensive units.

More from The Canuck Way

Toronto sits at 28-15-2, but it’s hard to envision them going far in the playoffs if they don’t fix a blue line that has committed too many meltdowns over the last couple of years. Hence, why some Maple Leaf fans mercilessly booed Jake Gardiner after an embarrassing 6-3 home loss on Monday.

If the Maple Leafs want to beat a top team like the Boston Bruins or Tampa Bay Lightning in the postseason, they need a guy like Tanev or Edler.

Both guys play with a physical edge, can clean up the sloppiness in the defensive zone and match up well against the opposition’s top lines.

The Maple Leafs would also have some valuable assets that could be offered in a trade for one of Edler, Tanev or even both. Their 2019 first-round pick would likely be in play, and perhaps 2017 first-round pick in defenceman Timothy Liljegren.

Maybe Toronto would be willing to part with one or two of their promising young forwards, such as Kasperi Kapanen (15 goals, 28 points this season), or Andreas Johnsson (10 goals, 21 points). Both players would provide nice scoring depth on a Vancouver team that relies too much on Elias Pettersson, Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser.

Other contending teams that could have interest in Edler or Tanev might not have as many quality prospects or roster players that the Leafs have. And Toronto is in a position where they have to go all in to win, before Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner sign their massive contract extensions. That’s why they should be willing to offer more for Tanev and/or Edler than any other team.

The Canucks can afford to deal one or two of their top blueliners here, considering that there will be help on the way soon. Olli Juolevi and Quinn Hughes will hopefully be ready for the NHL next year, and there is plenty of cap space in the future for general manager Jim Benning to sign more veteran rearguards.

And that’s why the Canucks and Maple Leafs make perfect sense as trade partners. Vancouver has the blueliners to offer that could seriously help enhance Toronto’s push for a Stanley Cup. On the flip side, the Maple Leafs have the better pieces and more of an incentive to trade for one or two of the Canucks’ top blueliners.

Next. Rumours: Vancouver Canucks are in on Micheal Ferland. dark

The Canucks and Maple Leafs don’t have much of a trading history, but now would be the time for the two teams to swing a blockbuster deal. Toronto would add more pieces to help them compete for a championship, while the Canucks would add more pieces to help the rebuild.

Home/Editorials