Leafs set their sights on another gritty forward at the deadline

The New York Rangers have been mentioned more than once in the past month when we talk about the trade deadline, however, it's usually the names of Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes being linked to different transaction rumours. Now, there is another name being repeated and he is getting linked to the Toronto Maple Leafs...

Larry Brooks of the New York Post has reported that the Maple Leafs are believed to be among the teams that have inquired on forward Chris Kreider. Toronto has been in the mix to get a gritty forward for several weeks now, and while they had previously been linked to Philadelphia Flyers' Wayne Simmonds, GM Kyle Dubas could convince the Rangers to let the veteran forward go. 

However, Brooks believes that Rangers general manager Jeff Gorton will only trade the winger if he receives "an offer he cannot refuse." The Bruins and Nashville Predators are also believed to have expressed interest in Kreider, however, with Boston landing Charlie Coyle from the Minnesota Wild last night, they could be out of the running by now. 

Kreider has tallied 24 goals and 44 points in 59 games this season. He is currently on pace for a career-best 33 goals and 61 points this season and is averaging a career-high 17:33 of ice time in the Big Apple. He is signed through next season at a cap hit of $4.625 million and has an 11-team no-trade list in his contract. 

The 27-year-old forward might prefer to stay in New York, where he has spent his entire career. He has a total of 129 goals and 263 points in 440 games. 

We don't' know how expensive it would be to land Kreider, and on top of that, Dubas has to be careful with next year's cap... Let's see if he can pull it off.