Over the week end news broke regarding a potential blockbuster trade deal involving the Toronto Maple Leafs and the St. Louis Blues.
During Hockey Night In Canada's "Headlines" segment on Saturday Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider Nick Kypreos dropped a bombshell when he revealed that St. Louis Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo was in play after a catastrophic star to the season for the Blues organization. The Blues have of course already fired head coach Mike Yeo this season but that move does not seem to have resolved any of the organizations problems and in fact things may have reached a boiling point last night when Blues forward Brayden Schenn called out his fellow teammates as "fragile."
Now the mere fact that Peitrangelo could be available via trade would have been a huge story in it's own right, however it was amplified 10 gold when Kypreos attached the Toronto Maple Leafs organization to that rumor. Pietrangelo is not only an extremely well established defenseman in the National Hockey League but he is a right handed defenseman as well and that is exactly what both the Maple Leafs and especially head coach Mike Babcock have been hoping to get for several seasons now.
It sounds like a dream option for the Maple Leafs but that may in fact be all that there is to it at this time. On Monday TSN NHL insider Darren Dreger was asked about the big rumor and admitted that he was unable to dig up anything that would connect the Leafs to Pietrangelo or even to Blues defenseman Colton Parayko who has been in the rumor mill since prior to the trade deadline earlier this year.
“I can’t connect them,” said Dreger as per Nichols on Hockey. “And it might be a little premature to do that. But I’d be really surprised if Toronto wouldn’t be interested in either Pietrangelo or Colton Parayko. I mean, just based on what they bring to any team, including St. Louis, who is struggling inexplicably this year. That’s why we’re even having these conversations.”
That being said though Dreger also added that he does expect a significant move is coming from the Blues and he does believe it will be a core players, or players, who are on the move.
“... Armstrong has already fired one coach. He’s not going to throw Craig Berube under the bus, so it’s going to be one of the core guys that gets moved out. So you’re either talking about a stud-like forward, or you’re talking about one of the big boys on the back end. Because he’s not moving O’Reilly, he’s not moving Bozak, and he’s not moving the pieces that he just brought in last summer.”
According to Kypreos the package for Pietrangelo would have to include something like Nikita Zaitsev, a high end draft pick and a young and talented player from the Leafs prospect pool or roster as well. I'm sure the Leafs would have interest in Pietrangelo but with his no trade clause he would also need to have interest in joining the Maple Leafs, plus they would have to find a way to make Pietrangelo's $6.5 million cap hit work under their current salary structure as well.
