Latest trade rumours. Toronto Maple Leafs . TD Fizzle...

Jan 12 2022: Most plausible rumour. Sandin, Robertson and our first rounder for Jeff Chychrun. Very plausible.

Jan 10 2022
Kyle Dubas most likely realizes the Leafs need a top 3 defensive defenseman for the Leafs to make any real noise this year in the playoffs. All roads to the cup lead through Tampa Bay but Tampa has the cup and a better defense. Sandin and Liljegren have progressed well but aren't ready for top 3 minutes just yet. Dubas has many issues cap wise and will have to make a lot of decisions based on free agency, cost to his cap and who he can even resign. All we can do is look at his options but letting guys just walk for zip year after year needs to end. The prospect pool is middling and Sandin and Liljegren were two of your more NHL for sure type prospects.


Alex Kerfoot. Alex is a UFA next summer and only making $3.5 Million. With all the guys Dubas has to sign, Bunting, Soup 1 and 2, Kerfoot will get a raise elsewhere. Because the Leafs have Marner , Dubas will have to look at a trade if a package lands him a top defenseman.


Pierre Engvall. With Soup back his days are numbered . If Dubas got offered a 3rd rounder at TD, he would take it.


Jake Muzzin. It isn't likely he gets moved at all. The cost to eat his contract would be a first rounder and Dubas will want that for a bigger type deal and just hope Muzzin picks it up come playoffs one last time.


Nick Ritchie. He just cleared waivers. Next.


T.Dermott. This could happen in a package with Kerfoot for an upgrade on defense. If it was a young stud defenseman Dubas could throw in his first rounder and go all in.


J.Holl. You might get a respectable upgrade on defense with Kerfoot but it would cost you your first as well. Highly unlikely he gets moved before summer.


Nick Robertson. He has only played 2 games and many will think he is a Dubas castoff since they can't gauge his game fully. Will not get traded before TD nor till he puts a half decent amount of games in a row.


Rodion Amirov. He hasn't done much in the KHL yet and is 2 years away. GM's will want a player who can either help now or next season whereas Dubas can easily sit on him for 2 years because he is overstacked on the wings, if he resigns everyone. Worth more to Dubas than other GMs. Highly unlikely he goes anywhere unless its a monster deal and the other GM inists on having him.


Topi Niemela. People will ask for him but Dubas won't listen. It will take a deal Dubas can't refuse, which is overpay me time. Dubas could look really stupid in 2 to 3 years if he trades this guy and doesn't get top return.
======================================================================================= Jan 10 2022 Potential targets.

Ben Chiarot the 30 year old 6 ft 3 inch 234 lb defenseman is a UFA at the end of the year playing for Montreal. He could really help in the playoff battles and stabalize the defense. The price will be a first rounder and someone will pay it at TD. Given it's Montreal and that he will walk at the end of the year, he won't be Dubas' first choice. Dubas will want youth first when he is shopping for defensemen since Muzzin is starting to show his years.

Jakob Chychrun: The Leafs would love to get their hands on this guy who is only 23 and could help their p.p with his shot and offense. The problem is so would a lot of other GM's. If Dubas gets in a bidding war the price would be Sandin a first rounder and a very good prospect. While it's a nice thought Dubas will seek cheaper options, especially if the prospect is Niemela.

Mark Pysyk. The 6 ft 1 inch 200 lb 29 year old defensemen plays for the Buffalo Sabres who likely will be sellers. The cost ? Most likely a 2nd rounder or a good prospect. This one is very plausible.

Scott Mayfield is a 29 year old,6 ft 5 inch defenseman with the NY Islanders who may not be sellers.

TOMAS HERTL is a 28 year old 6ft 3 inch center with the San Jose Sharks. While it may happen, it isn't likely because of the cost and the fact Toronto has Kampf and Spezza. Center isn't the Leafs weakness but the cost of Hertl would be high. Most likely media speculation.

Dylan Strome. A rumour creeping around but again, who does he replace ? He makes $3 Million per year, making this one armchair GM fodder, not likely.

Feb 6th 2020:Confirmed trade. The Maple Leafs trade  winger Trevor Moore, a 3rd rounder and a conditional 3rd rounder(2021) for 29 year old LW Kyle Clifford and goaltender Jack Campbell.

Jan24th: There are somewhat credible rumblings the Oilers and Leafs may be sizing each other up.Names like Johnsson, Kerfoot and Kapanen are being kicked about. On the Oilers side the Leafs are talking Adam Larsson or Darnell Nurse, if Reilly is out till playoffs.Oilers could use some secondary scoring after the Taylor Hall trade, on the wings. The Leafs will want a RH Defenseman under contract longer than just this year.Jeremy Bracco with the Marlies becomes sweetner as Dubas picked OHL's scoring phenom Nick Robertson(2nd round), so he won't blink if that fixes the deal up tight.

Another name that keeps popping up is Brett Pesche a RHD on the Carolina Canes but the price might be steep.

Well, it has been a while and as of 16th of Jan, there were no real credible rumours. With Morgan Reilly now out for 2 months with a broken foot and Andreas Johnsson coming back from injury some credible rumours are emerging.Teams are calling Leaf GM Dubas about his desire for a defenseman, most likely a right hander.One rumour I could believe is Buffalo who themselves are fighting to even make the playoffs. The rumour is Andreas Johnsson and Tyson Barrie for Buffalo's Montour or Ristolenien.I could see this one making sense as Barrie will be a UFA and the Leafs have wingers to spare with the emergence of Engvall and Micheyev and possibly Korshkov next season.They also have some sweetner such Bracco and Timashov. Likelihood for this rumour,5 out of 10.

November 3rd 2019: As of this writing there are no concrete rumours floating around but coach Mike Babcock recently benched William Nylander for indifferent play. He is the most likely to be traded but GM Kyle Dubas is a stumbling block. His inexperience and lack of humility may not allow him to admit his mistake. In overpaying Nylander he opened the flood gates and put himself into cap hell. The recent headhunting of star Center Auston Mathews along with the injury to Jake Muzzin has shown that teams see the Leafs much as agents view Dubas, "soft as butter".

 The Leafs play has raised concerns but it is doubtful Dubas is listening. The Leafs are playing uninspired hockey and many think this team won't go far in the playoffs with the current lineup.
Their defense has not improved nor have their special teams and their effort is sub-par, struggling to get wins against teams they should have no problems with.



Well it is that time again, to decipher between grass concocted fantasies at the bar/work or reality driven murmurs from those in the supposed know. This is the net, so please take it with some salt.


July 21 2019: Well, it's the dog days of summer and the only rumour Leaf fans want to hear is what is going on with star Mitch Marner?  I'm sure other teams want to offer sheet RW Mitch Marner but I'm not sure he would sign them. This is now more akin to the William Nylander situation last year and we are in a Mexican standoff. My best guess is that GM Kyle Dubas doesn't want a repeat and neither does Marner. Marner wants a cup now and knows if he misses half the season it could cost us and him a real chance next summer in the Stanley Cup playoffs. I have no idea but my best guess is Marner gets signed at $10.5M on a 5 year deal and saves face as he is now close to star Center Auston Mathew's paygrade and he must know Toronto is now cap strapped with no real room for improvement via trade route. We will be counting on our younger guys maturing and just plain playing better next year, being a year older and wiser. Any improvement will come internally or perhaps at TD, although Toronto has no more room to offer up first rounders in TD trades in my opinion. As good as Kyle Dubas is at drafting, sooner or later a strong draft comes along and you need those cheaper prospects down the line.I see no more major changes to this lineup at this point. The Kadri deal having already been done and bringing in Right handed defenseman Barrie and 3rd line Center Kerfoot from Colorado.




May 2nd 2019: The rumour is Mitch Marner and his agent want $9M/ year and that Leaf GM  Kyle Dubas has said " Take a lap." A different tone may have set in after Dubas didn't appear to look good on the Auston Mathews and the William Nylander negotiations.




August 12th: weak rumour of Tyler Myers being traded to the Leafs.


Fake Twitter rumour : August 3rd-   The Maple Leafs sign William Nylander to a 6 year contract at an average of  $6.575 Million per year.


Rumour: August 1st 2018 - The are rumours Toronto has some interest in St Louis' Defenseman Colton Parayko. Hard to believe because St Louis is in win now mode and the price would be very high. I would imagine the bid starts with William Nylander who is apparently asking for $8M/yr to sign.We will follow this one as it would greatly help the Leafs defense but try not to lose any sleep as I would rate this one as not very likely to happen.

Nothing tangible to report on Nylander deal. We may be starting the season without him at this point. Thankfully we signed Tavares.

October 6 2018 : Rumour is William Nylander seeks $8.5 M and isn't budging on his demands. To me it looks like he will not be signed. The reality is Ehlers on Winnipeg makes $6.5M and there is nothing in Nylander's game set that implies he is better or even as good as Ehlers. If Winnipeg called and offered me Ehlers for Nylander straight up right now, I would take it. Odds are now good he will have to be traded, we simply can't make those numbers work with the group we have. Kadri, Andersen and Reilly all make about $5M each. I would now rate it above 50 percent he is traded and most likely for a defenseman. If that happens Gardiner(UFA soon) comes into play.

Dumping McIheney may very well come back and bite us, cost cutting measure or not. Sparks needs to win some games and not get blown out or we may be looking for another backup G.

October 13 /18 : There is a rumour Colorado may offer sheet Nylander 6 yrs for $48M which would cost them four first rounders. Stay tuned.

October 20th :Rumours are that the Leafs won't be signing Nylander longterm for the money he wants rumoured to be $8M/yr. They will now negotiate on short term. No sign of a trade as of now.

October 27th  2018 :Another one bites the dust? It was about to be announced within days,William  Nylander was no longer practicing in Austria, new bridge deal... Not! Dubas has been taking in games and the most likely trading partner is... Carolina. They are on fire with a good young team and have the defense to barter with. I could also see a team like NYR being willing to pay Nylander his asking price. But do they have the pieces?

* retarded talk of the month; Leafs will trade Kadri to make room for Nylander. Odds now zero, Mathews is injured again, Kadri goes nowhere.

November 3rd. Toronto just thumped Pittsburgh 5 to 0 with Morgan Reilly now off his leash and starting to look every bit the impact defenseman we always thought he would be. Odds are now very high Nylander gets traded. Dubas has been seen scouting other teams and December 1st gets closer. This was always going to happen. At $ 8M/yr. Nylander played his hand, fans must accept this but Toronto had no plan for this and made their move when they signed Tavares. Toronto needs pieces for the playoffs and Nylander is the collateral teams want and need, offense. The Leafs are plentiful offensively and something had to give and it did, Nylander opted out of Toronto in  his own way, " I need to take care of myself." I don't blame him but we cannot afford him and to win a cup a price must be paid. 87 percent chance now Dubas is getting ready to pull the trigger, his hand has been forced but in a way he must have known that when he signed Tavares. Nylander wants to be front and center and paid that way, he can never do that in Leafland. With Mathews, Tavares, Marner and Reilly in front of him he needs to go to a team where the competition to be spotlight is far more sparse and of course the GM thinks his 41 pts. playing with Mathews is worth $8 M/ yr. Like it or not but Kapanen now replaces Nylander and life goes on just as did for the Oilers after Greztky went to L.A.. that's hockey.

November 23rd 2018 : The rumour is Dubas will have words on the William Nylander situation by 5pm today. My guess is bridge deal at this point. Stay tuned. OK and after 5 pm... keep staying tuned ?

Nov 28th 2018 : Auston Mathews returns vs San Jose Sharks and mercifully Nylander has a date with December 1st coming up.

November 29th: Nice Rumour. The Flyers may be shaking things up soon and one player I could see Dubas and Toronto having interest in is Wayne Simmonds. The Leafs could sure use a guy like him in the top 9 and he could have surprising impact in this lineup. The price a good young player who can play soon, perhaps our first rounder 2018 and winger Ygor Korshkov a former Hunter 2nd overall pick.

December 1st 5:03 pm  Word is William Nylander has signed with the Leafs at 6 years / $6.9M.

Dec 3rd 2018: Josh Leivo goes to the Canucks for an unknown undrafted winger called Carcone. The Canucks win this one and I hope there are some future considerations in there. Leivo could pot 20 goals someday but with William Nylander to make room for, his days were numbered. Best of luck and you did well Josh!

Dec 12th 2018: Bad rumour alert. Alex Pieterangelo may be up for grabs after St Louis is off to their worst start since I don't know when. The Leafs have the pieces but it is doubtful they will pay the price. Right now The Leafs have Gardiner and Zaitsev to contend with and quite frankly, they don't have the cap nor the desire. Pure media speculation at best. Won't happen... Apparently Pieterangelo  needs to go for hand surgery.

Dec 23rd: This one may have some legs. The Leafs may have some interest in Kronwall as a rental, especially given his history with Mike Babcock in Detroit. I'm not sure of the price but if it is reasonable such as a 2nd rounder it is very plausible at TD.

Jan 1st 2019 : The rumour that won't go away. Pieternagelo. Rumour is the Leafs have some interest but what is the cost?

Jan 6th 2019 : Leafs add veteran goalie Michael Hutchinson from Florida for a 5th rounder in 2020. Hutchinson looked solid in his first  Leaf game getting a shut out versus the Canucks in a 5 to 0 thrashing.

Rumours are Simmonds is not happy in Philly and it doesn't look good for Philly making the playoffs thus year. JVR has not panned out either. A player such as  Marlies Jeremy Bracco is bound to get their attention but will Dubas pay that price ?

Jan 28th :

Leafs acquire Muzzin for Grundstrom, Durzi and a 2019 first round pick. Huge move great pickup but not cheap.


Feb 1st 2019 ; Dubas has apparently said he is looking for a top 9 heavy hitter. The rumour is it's Anaheim Ducks 23 yr old LW 6ft 2 inch 234 lb Nick Ritchie from Orangeville , Ontario.Not sure on the ask for him, I hear Brown.

Feb 2  2019: Hot and heavy trade alert?  Wayne Simmonds is a Leaf? Apparently they are even calling it on the Philly station and TSN and Sportsnet. Stay tuned. This is a red hot one! Doesn't look like this one will happen, Philly is 9 and 1 in their last 10 and now in the playoff hunt.

Feb 9 2019: Apparently the Leafs have some interest in Michael Ferland a 6ft 1  217 lb rental winger currently with Carolina. Rumours of Pesch being involved keep appearing as he is a RHD. Don't look now but Kappanen's offense has dried up with one goal since Christmas.

Feb 13th 2019: With the price likely too high to get Wayne Simmonds from Philly ,there are rumblings Dubas enquired about L.A Kings tough 3rd or 4th line winger Kyle Clifford during the Muzzin talks.Dubas has already stated he won't give up Liljegren,Sandin or the 2020 first rounder for a rental.With Jake Gardiner probably leaving and the cupboard looking a little thinner he is likely offering a roster player and odds are it's Connor Brown. I doubt L.A would accept that. Dubas does have winger Jeremy Bracco(Toronto Marlies) and there may be a question of where Toronto fits him in with Trevor Moore more likely to play 4th line.There is also the Seattle expansion draft where Toronto will very likely lose a good player this time. Will Leaf G.M Dubas give up J.Bracco the way he is playing right now ?

Feb 14th: The Leafs are now in contract talks with Kapanen. You can ignore all the cries for offer sheets on Leaf players. Dubas said " He as never worried about it."  GM's don't need to start a war over a max $5M player the Leafs would only match anyway. Yes, the Leafs because of Bracco's play may have to trade Johnsson or Kapanen next summer but that would likely be part of a larger trade including more pieces. Dubas is in far better shape than some report.

Feb 20th 2019: Bingo! If Dubas is smart he will grab Pelly- Smith off waivers from Washington. He is free on the last year of his contract and has won a Stanley cup last year. He will be motivated and is just the tonic Toronto needs for that 4th line. Do it Dubas !

Feb 21st 2019 : Even though Pelly- Smith could be had Toronto has apparently enquired about Chris Kreider of the New York Rangers. Kreider is a 6ft 3 inch , 217 lb LW drafted in 2009.

Feb 22 2019 : TRADE
To Columbus F Matt Duchene D Julius Bergman To Ottawa F Jonathan Davidsson F Vitaly Abramov 2019 1st RD pick (CBJ) * 2020 1st RD pick (CBJ) ** * Lottery protected ** Conditional: Duchene must sign an extension with Columbus

Feb 25th 2019 : And Lindholm for Petan...... Fizzle.


December 2020: There is a rumour floating that Leaf GM Kyle Dubas is entertaining offers for goaltender Frederick Andersen who is on the last year of his current contract. If he wants a raise, it is doubtful he will get one from Toronto and they may not want to let him walk away for nothing. The strongest rumour, so far, is The Carolina Hurricanes may have some serious interest.

Dubas enters a Brave New World. " No guts, no glory! "

During the Lou Lamoriello reign Toronto played a very conservative trade game not taking any real chances in order to preserve our prospect pool and to avoid some of the past mistakes of trading away high picks and then living to regret it. Tukka Rask, Russ Courtnall, Alex Steen, Scott Niedermayer  and even Roberto Luongo all went on to have great careers after being traded and so Lou played it very cautiously only giving up 2nd rounders to get Tomas Plekenac, Dan Boyle and giving up a late first rounder to get Frederick Andersen.In the end his cautiousness cost him his job and wasn't enough to get Toronto past the first round. During that time Toronto went from worst to 8th best in the league and still it cost him his job. A first round elimination simply won't do next year and could even cost more jobs should it happen, perhaps even Mike Babcock or who knows Shanny himself may feel some major heat. Toronto is an odd town and rightly so. They haven't seen a cup in over half a century and even the Cubs have ended their long drought.

Enter Dubas' Brave New World because  as was once said ," No guts, no glory!" Dubas inherited a team in good cap shape with a team full of young players and a few decent prospects still left in the cupboard after it had been pillaged over two years. The team has way too many wingers and when players like Grundstrom, Engvall and perhaps Jeremy Bracco arrive there simply won't be any room. Last year players with size played a major role with Washington re-signing Smith Pelly and perhaps signalling a new era back to impact players with some grit and size. Let's look at some of the other teams Toronto may face in next year's Stanley Cup Playoffs. Thanks to OVO16 of Hockeysfuture:

Capitals: Tom Wilson, Smith Pelly, Oshie, Orlov, Bowey
Blue Jackets: Josh Anderson, Foligno, Jenner, Dubinsky, Savard
Bruins: David Backes, Mcquaid, Chara, Miller
Lightning: JT Miller, Killorn, Paquette, Callahan, Andreoff, Coburn, Hedman
Penguins: Aston-Reese, Hornqvist, Rust, Letang, Oleksiak

What can Toronto respond with now that Matt Martin is gone? Kadri ? Didn't he just get suspended ? Can Kadri play his game and take that chance next year ? The answer is no. Toronto is stacked with talent with star John Tavares willingly jumping on board but those players need role players to chop wood for them and wear down other teams behemoths such as Chara. It wouldn't be wise to lose next year due to a lack of those type of players who seem to be coming back into style again, just look at the hulking Winnipeg Jets who Toronto could one day face in the finals. Late last year Winnipeg thumped Toronto soundly as many announced Winnipeg the best team in Canada. So, what does Toronto need to beat such teams in next year's playoffs ? In my opinion some size to do their dirty work and a top 4 defenseman who can help Frederick Andersen, who I think is a very good goalie. Sure the Leafs were nervous the first 2 games in Boston last year and they have added a star but does Toronto want to lose over a 7 game series because of a suspect defense again ? No, they don't. I can't prove a top 9 power forward would have changed the outcome last year but I fail to see how it would hurt. Some Leaf fans are in love with the idea of just outscoring every team but in the playoffs many teams have talent and sometimes role players get hot and make a huge difference in a series. Play the wrong team and one can get worn down, injured or in the case of Kadri, suspended. We can't let that happen.

Enter the trademan. Dubas has the assets, some of which we may never use. Does Jeremy Bracco have a future in Toronto ? Perhaps but is hard to see whose job he will steal. Toronto Marlies Carl Grundstrom may help but the jury is still out on whether he is ready to play fulltime in the NHL yet. While Zaitsev may get another year to prove himself due to injury last year, Gardiner needs to be upgraded. He is an offensive defenseman some teams may covet to help their powerplay etc. but some sacrifice must be made to get what we need. No one is giving away defenseman anymore. Some speak of Vancouver's  Tanev but he is injured too often and over valued by the Canucks who seem to think he will land Nylander. They can dream as Tanev  represents too much risk and will never land such a prize. I'm not even sure The Leaf's would do Gardiner straight up for him in a trade. One player they might look at is Winnipeg's Trouba or perhaps even Tyler Myers. No one knows what the price would be but it would be at least Gardiner and Brown with the possibility of Bracco or even our 2019 first rounder as sweetner. That player won't play for 4 or 5 years, if ever. If one looks at players taken from 26th to 30th in the last 10 years or more, the pickings are very slim, so you can stop howling at the moon. Dubas needs to make at least one more bold move and hope a useful Smith Pelly type player becomes available on the market before the trade deadline. He owes that to Toronto's long standing loyal fans as the horror of losing in the first round again will haunt him, Shanahan and Babcock if they don't. I just dread what could happen should we collapse in game 7... again. After all there is more to hockey than just statistics.