Leafs have major move to make in light of Muzzin trade

The Maple Leafs made a splash on Monday, acquiring veteran defenseman Jake Muzzin from the Los Angeles Kings in return for forward Carl Grundstrom, the rights to unsigned blue line prospect Sean Durzi and Toronto’s first-round pick in 2019. Muzzin is expected play on the Leafs’ top pairing with Morgan Rielly, while Ron Hainsey will slide down to the third pairing with Travis Dermott. 

While we can see some lineup moves have already been made since the acquisition of Muzzin, it seems like it won't be the end of it. For the Leafs' top pair, it remains to be seen which left-shot defenseman will play on his off-side when the Leafs return from their bye week. 

Darryl Sutter coached Muzzin with the Kings from 2012-2017 and is adamant that the Maple Leafs may be best served having Rielly switch sides, since Muzzin has no experience playing on the right. 

“He’s never played the right side,” Sutter told the Toronto Sun. “Anybody who says he’s played the right side isn’t watching the games. He’s played zero times on the right side in L.A. I know they’re looking for the perfect guy to pair with (Morgan) Rielly. He might be that guy, but maybe Rielly has to switch to the other side.

“Some guys are better rushing on their off-side. You see a lot of left guys playing the right side but you don’t see a lot of right (shooters) playing their off side. It’s just the way it is.”

It's been two years since Sutter coached Muzzin, so things might have changed for the experienced blue liner. However, Rielly has spent the season to date on the left-side of the Leafs blue line with Hainsey for the past two seasons, and he's done well on his off-side. He might be excited to return to the right. 

If not, Elliotte Friedman had reported in his latest 31 Thoughts column on Sportsnet that the Leafs will keep an eye open for right-shot defensemen leading up to the trade deadline. However, we can't forget that Toronto is stuck in a salary-cap situation and will need to keep about $3.75 million in cap room available to avoid bonus money for Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner leaking into next season’s salary cap. 

Many insiders have hinted that the Maple Leafs aren't done making move ahead of the trade deadline in order to ensure a long playoff run. However, the next trade will surely be a dollar-in, dollar-out scenario. 

Leafs will have to make a major lineup move in light of Muzzin's trade, and it might not be the end of it...