Leafs to swing for the fences and solve right-handed D-man problem with blockbuster trade?

Sportsnet’s Luke Fox knows the Toronto Maple Leafs need to fix their defence if they want to make it further into the postseason next spring. And we are pretty sure head coach Mike Babcock agrees, he who stated his team needs more depth before leaving for the summer. 

And so Fox has a solution for general manager Kyle Dubas. Well, he has more than once but believes this will solve right-handed defenceman problem once and for all: 

A blockbuster trade that will have the same effect as signing John Tavares as a free agent last summer. 

Nothing less. 

“A big ticket like Drew Doughty, Ryan Ellis, Aaron Ekblad, Alex Pietrangelo, or P.K. Subban would rock Leafs Nation on a John Tavares level. No doubt, Los Angeles and Nashville in particular are desperate for young offence.”

It isn’t the first time fans are asked to dream about Doughty or Subban coming to Toronto, however they are quite aware that a major package would have to be offered in return to land a star defenceman. 

Fox is aware it could mean trading forwards William Nylander or Kasperi Kapanen. 

Other options are also interesting and less costly and Sportsnet’s Brian Burke believes that the first name of the list below is an underrated player that could be a great catch for the Leafs: 

“More doable trade targets include Vancouver’s Chris Tanev, Winnipeg’s  Jacob Trouba (RFA), Philly’s Radko Gudas or Ivan Provorov, Ottawa’s  Cody Ceci (RFA), Muzzin’s old L.A. pal Alec Martinez, Colorado’s nasty Nikita Zadorov, and Carolina’s Brett Pesce, Dougie Hamilton or Justin Faulk.”

With the Avalanche and Hurricanes still in the playoff run, the prices might be going up every day on the last four players on that list. However, you bet Dubas will look at every option to bolster his back end. 

Sounds like we are getting ready for a significant move in Toronto, and this time we don’t mean the contract to Mitch Marner. We understand he is a priority, but the blue line also needs to be fixed, right?