Maple Leafs getting ready to pull off another Kadri-like trade

Sportsnet’s Luke Fox cannot predict that the Toronto Maple Leafs will pull a blockbuster trade ahead of the 2020-21 season. 

However, he has a feeling that history might repeat itself once the free agent market opens. In his latest mailbag, Fox was asked by a fan “if the Leafs lose the play in round are major roster moves the next step after already playing the change the coach card?”

This is what Fox had to say, hinting that we could see a move similar to the one that sent forward Nazem Kadri to the Colorado Avalanche last summer. 

“My belief is that, regardless of what happens this summer, Sheldon Keefe gets at least one full season to make the horses run. The way Dubas has preached patience, breaking up the core — Auston Matthews , John Tavares , Mitch Marner, William Nylander , Zach Hyman , Morgan Rielly , Jake Muzzin , Frederik Andersen — this off-season would shock me.

Expect tweaks on the fringes of the roster, however, to accommodate a stagnant salary cap. By dealing Nazem Kadri last summer, Dubas has shown a willingness to shake things up. And if a trade of significance does happen, it must be done to address Toronto’s thin right side of its blue line.”

We all know how heavy the focus on a better blue line has been in Toronto, so clearly such a move is not out of the question for the Leafs. 

Would a similar trade happen to go get Matt Dumba of the Minnesota Wild or Rasmus Ristolainen from the Buffalo Sabres?