Did the Toronto Maple Leafs just become a contender?

The news hit Toronto like a Canadian blizzard. The Leafs had just acquired defenseman Jake Muzzin from the Los Angeles Kings without giving up a single roster player in the process. Many GM's and Toronto media "gulped" as with one flick of the switch the Toronto Maple Leafs had a defense, suddenly. Jake Muzzin was a hard hitting defense first 6 ft 3" 217 lb monster who had been selected and played well for team Canada. He had won a Stanley cup and played with all star defensemen Drew Doughty very effectively. Jake Muzzin played both sides of the ice and thus was the perfect guy to play top pairing with the soaring Morgan Reilly. Dubas had taken a shot and come up roses. He had the pieces and Los Angeles got a very fair price. For one thing Muzzin only had another year before entering free agency, it was doubtful they could pay him fair market price.Toronto on the other hand would soon be losing Jake Gardiner to free agency and given his skillset he is worth north of $6M/ yr. Toronto would likely not have the room to match that. They would be busy resigning Mitch Marner, Auston Mathews, Kappanen and even potential 30 goal Andreas Johnsson might be a tough contract to fit in. Muzzin became the perfect guy to help Reilly with tough assignments and bump Hainsey lower into the bottom pairing to school the youngsters. You see Toronto had a very enviable situation, they needed to bring Dermott, Liljegren and soon 2018 first rounder Sandin into their lineup. They were both cheaper and soon some would be better than Gardiner who struggled at times with the concept of defense first, even often getting booed by the paying fans.This trade made Jake Gardiner's situation much more muddy now as Toronto could now look at trading him at trade deadline perhaps for an even higher first rounder ? What was Jake Gardiner's value to team straining to make the playoffs and in need of playoff revenue ? Some teams love rentals because it allows them to go over cap and then walk away the next year.

Let's break down this trade. The Leafs traded early on a contract with one more full year for the exact thing they needed while covering themselves when Gardiner left as he was almost certain to do much like JVR the year before.They gave up  good prospects with Carl Grundstrom a potential top 9,  20 goal winger. They gave up second rounder 2018 defenseman Sean Durzi and of course their first rounder in 2019, said to be a strong draft.

Outcome: Tie. This trade was good for both teams and Muzzin may actually be gone just as Grundstrom, Durzi and the first rounder arrive in L.A. For all we know Durzi is the next Muzzin. Grundstrom would help L.A replace some of their aging wingers at a cheaper rate. And the first rounder well that was a crap shoot and it would be a late first but odds are L.A will get a player if it is a strong draft. In other words L.A just got 3 young players for years for a guy with one year left they couldn't resign anyway.Dubas did well and got what he wanted and needed but so did the L.A Kings as they follow the Toronto model and begin rebuilding.I just can't criticize either GM for what they got or what they gave. This trade made total sense from both sides and the timing was perfect. This is your typical " This trade works for both teams in the here and now!" The Leafs are now contenders and I'm sure other GM's in the East just took note.