Rumored trade between the Oilers and Maple Leafs.

A potential deal between two Canadian teams?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 7 years ago
Rumored trade between the Oilers and Maple Leafs.
Keystone Press.

There are rumors that the Edmonton Oilers may be looking to trade one of their defenseman over the summer, and one writer has suggested the Toronto Maple Leafs could be the destination.

The defenseman in question is 29 year old Mark Fayne and according to a report from Jonathan Willis in the Edmonton Journal it's issues with management and his large cap hit that are motivating factors for a trade.

he costs a fair bit and clearly isn’t a favourite of the new management.

It's also Willis who has suggested the Maple Leafs would be the ideal fit for such a move, with a need for right handed defenseman, a focus on analytics which paint Fayne is a favorable light and an existing relationship with general manager Lou Lamoriello.

It’s highly likely that the Maple Leafs analytics group would see the value of that sort of player. Given that Toronto general manager Lou Lamoriello ran a Devils team that went to the Stanley Cup Final with Fayne averaging more than 20:00 per game, it’s unlikely that he’d disagree with them. 

The Leafs also have a need. The only right-shooting defenceman to play at least 20 games in Toronto and finish the year on the team’s roster was Frank Corrado, who averaged just 14:27 in ice-time per game. Toronto does have some good young right shots on the way—both Connor Carrick and Nikita Zaitsev should compete for a spot on the roster—but there’s clearly room for one or perhaps two right-shot defenceman. Head coach Mike Babcock has long been a vocal proponent of having a balance of right- and left-shot defenders.

Obviously a deal of this kind would require money going back the other way and Toronto could look to rid itself of one of it's long term deals as they continue to work towards their rebuild. Fayne's final prediction on this rumor was a very bold one.

The most appealing item for the Leafs would be that a trade involving Fayne would also potentially open the door for the team to move on a sizeable contract of its own. Tyler Bozak—a right-shooting centre who would fill a need for the Oilers—is the name most often mentioned locally (Bob Stauffer of Oilers Now has floated the idea on his show), but there are other possibilities, too.

This will be one potential move to watch for fans of both teams over the summer.

[pub]

Source: