Rumor: Leafs have put multiple pieces in play in a bid to get Alex Pietrangelo.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have all their ducks in a row now that formerly restricted free agent forward William Nylander has been signed and now it sounds like the team is looking to make some major shifts to it's core roster via the trade front.

On Saturday night during the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider Nick Kypreos dropped a bombshell when he revealed that his sources have linked the Toronto Maple Leafs to the trade rumors involving St. Louis Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo. The trade would obviously be a blockbuster deal and as a result would require a blockbuster offer from Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas and his organization and Kypreos did have some details in that regard as well.

According to Kypreos the Maple Leafs have put 27 year old defenseman Nikita Zaitsev in play as part of this deal and that would make sense from the Blues perspective as they would be getting a defenseman back as part of the deal. That being said though there is no world in which Zaitsev for Pietrangelo makes any sense and it sounds like there are several more pieces in play here from the Toronto side of the equation. Kypreos added that picks (plural) as well as a young and talented player would also need to be included in this deal in order to make Pietrangelo a Maple Leaf moving forward.

Now there are a couple of things that make this move particularly interesting. The first is the fact that the Blues seem to have accepted that their season will not be a success already and are looking to make wholesale changes across the organization. I'm inclined to agree with the direction in which they are moving here and moving Pietrangelo would likely fetch a huge return for a team looking to rebuild their current roster. Additionally with 2 years remaining on his current deal, including this current season, Pietrangelo's value likely will never be higher than it is right now so if you do think he ends up moving in the coming years then pull the trigger today. 

There is however the matter of Pietrangelo's no trade clause, one that means he would have to approve any trade out of St. Louis which would make things considerably more difficult. While there's no doubt that the Maple Leafs are a contender this season and that the Blues are not, that does not necessarily mean that the player wants to uproot his life and move to a different country. 

This move would  likely make the Maple Leafs the outright favorites to win it all this season if they could manage to pull it off.

[pub]