Rumor: Leafs linked to All-Star defenseman in trade talks

The final piece of the puzzle?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Rumor: Leafs linked to All-Star defenseman in trade talks
Zuma Press

It’s no secret that there’s a gaping hole on the Toronto Maple Leafs’ blue line. While the team boasts a plethora of talent up front with John Tavares, Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner amongst its forwards, the team’s defense corps leaves a little bit to be desires. Morgan Rielly is a legitimate top 4 defender, no doubt. Jake Gardiner probably qualifies as a top 4, as well. Depth defenders like Nikita Zaitsev and Ron Hainsey add some stability to the defense corps, but it’s obvious to everyone in the NHL that the Leafs are lacking a TRUE #1 or #2 defender.

Maybe they should go after Erik Karlsson? Oh wait… too late…

Fortunately, there’s another top pairing defenseman on the trade market and there are rumblings that Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas is interested. On a recent radio hit with TSN 1050 in Toronto, NHL insider Pierre LeBrun discussed the possibility of Carolina Hurricanes defender Justin Faulk getting moved at some point this season, calling him an “obvious fit” for the Leafs.

Check out some of these quotes from LeBrun, transcribed by Chris Nichols of the FanRag Sports Network:

“One guy that I like and I think eventually he’ll get moved is Justin Faulk,” noted LeBrun. “Now, he’s not a superstar, but he’s a talented top-four defenseman who’s still only 26 years old. He’s got one more year on his deal after this year at ($4.833 million). 
“I was told this summer that to some degree Carolina and Toronto did talk about him, but it didn’t go anywhere. And that might just be that Kyle Dubas was calling around the league to start getting a foundation for what’s out there over the next 12 months, who knows. But I do know that there was at least a conversation about him. But he’d be the obvious - not the obvious fit, but an obvious fit in terms of being a right-handed, top-four guy.
“The question is what would Carolina want, and there’s a reason he hasn’t moved yet. Even though Carolina is really deep on defense and they’ve got more coming, they haven’t moved him I think because he’s at a premium. If you’re coming to get Justin Faulk, you’re going to have to prob
“But to your point, if there’s going to be a tangible addition to this team, given the cap room they have - at least for one more year - how could it not be on the back end. I mean honestly, it’s just screaming out at you.”  

Interesting… of course, there’s very much the matter of Faulk’s $4.83 million salary. With Nylander still left to sign at a ticket of $6 million to $8 million and with extensions on the horizon for Matthews and Marner, fitting Faulk’s contract under the NHL’s salary cap could prove difficult for Leafs GM Kyle Dubas

But, if there’s one thing we’ve learned about Dubas this offseason it’s that he’s not afraid to go all in and make a splash. Stay tuned, Leafs fans.