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Calculating the potential cost for Muzzin, Gudas; Leafs vs. Coyotes

January 20, 2019, 2:54 PM ET [813 Comments]
Mike Augello
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The Toronto Maple Leafs are hoping to shake off some inconsistency and struggles on home ice, as they take on the Arizona Coyotes at Scotiabank Arena on Sunday. The Leafs are playing their third game in four nights and after a lacklustre performance in a 3-1 loss to Florida on Friday, Mike Babcock has once again shaken up his forward lines in hopes of sparking some slumping players.

The only unit that remained unchanged at the club’s morning skate was Patrick Marleau, Nazem Kadri and Kasperi Kapanen. The Leafs head coach reunited the top line of Zach Hyman, John Tavares and Mitch Marner, moved Connor Brown up to the second line with Auston Matthews and Andreas Johnsson, and shifted William Nylander to the fourth line with Par Lindholm and Frederik Gauthier.




Matthews and Nylander had particularly poor performances against the Panthers and were split up after Michael Matheson’s game-winner late in the first period, with Nylander being demoted and playing just over 12 minutes of ice time.

"(Nylander)just thought things were gonna come easier and when it didn’t come and then you’re pressing.” Babcock said. “It’s not like he’s not trying and it’s not like we’re not trying to help him. We’re doing all that, but it just isn’t going as good for him. Ideally this will allow him to take some heat off himself and just getting playing.”

Darcy Kuemper (9-11-4, 2.69 GAA, .914 save %) is expected to get the start for the Coyotes, who are not out of the Western Conference wildcard race in spite of losing starter Antti Raanta, forwards Christian Dvorak and former Leaf Michael Grabner to injury. Frederik Andersen, who made 36 saves in the win over Tampa Bay on Thursday will be in goal for Toronto.



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The Leafs pursuit of defensive help prior to the February 25th trade deadline is expected to be costly, especially if their target is a top pairing such as Alex Pietrangelo of the St. Louis Blues. The 28-year-old has a year remaining at $6.5 Million and as mentioned in a column earlier this month , the price Toronto would likely have to pay would be what Tampa Bay gave up for Ryan McDonagh last February, which was a pair of “A” Level assets (such as 2017 top pick Timothy Liljegren and their 2019 top pick), as well as another prospect.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Nick Kypreos mentioned the Leafs having possible interest in veterans Jake Muzzin(L.A. Kings) and Radko Gudas (Philadelphia).

The left-handed Muzzin is 29 and signed through next season at a $4 Million cap hit, reports out of Los Angeles are that GM Rob Blake is looking an “A” Level and “B” to “C” Level asset (such as a first round pick and a prospect), but the cost could escalate based on the level interest the two-time Stanley Cup winner draws.

With Muzzin having a year left, that would mean that GM Kyle Dubas is not only acquiring an upgrade for this season, but someone who could fill one of the top-four spots vacated at the end of the season with the likely departure of Ron Hainsey and Jake Gardiner.

Gudas would provide the Leafs defense corps some much needed physicality, has surprisingly good analytics numbers and has another year left on his contract at $3.35 Million, but is much better suited to being a bottom pairing role than playing more than 20 minutes per game.

The projected price for Gudas may be a “B” and “C” Level asset (such as a second round pick and a prospect) but the price may escalate among teams looking for some sandpaper prior to the deadline, which could mean that Dubas will look to make moves in advance of the deadline to keep the price of doing business low or look for more inexpensive, but less effective options.

The Leafs asset value chart

Level “A”

2019 first round pick - which will likely fall anywhere from the mid-20’s to 31.

2020 first round pick - which if dealt would have to be lottery protected to avoid any Ottawa Senators-like disaster scenario

Timothy Liljegren - 2017 first round pick (17th overall), 19-year-old blueliner with over 60 games of professional experience in the AHL.

Kasperi Kapanen - 2014 first rounder (22nd overall), 22-year-old winger has proved himself at the NHL level with 15 goals this season, and that may be the reason why the Leafs will not be interested in trading him.

Rasmus Sandin - 2018 first round pick (29th overall), 18-year-old defenseman who jumped from the OHL to the Marlies and scored 10 points in 18 games prior to playing for Sweden at the 2019 World Junior. (currently out injured)


Level “B”

Andreas Johnsson - The Calder Cup Playoff MVP started slow but now has 19 points with the Leafs and has the speed that most NHL clubs are looking for.

Jeremy Bracco - 2015 second round pick (61st overall), the highly skilled 21-year-old winger is pushing towards being a Level A prospect, he also has a Memorial Cup and World Junior Championship on his list of accomplishments.

Carl Grundstrom - 2016 second round pick (57th overall) - 21-year-old was key contributor on the Marlies top line with Johnsson and Miro Aaltonen on their run to a Calder Cup Championship and has continued to play well in his first full AHL season.

2019 or 2020 second round pick


Level “C”


Forwards

Trevor Moore - free agent signing selected as AHL All-Star, leads the Marlies in goal scoring.

Dmytro Timashov - skillful 22-year-old winger in his third AHL season, on pace for career-high in points.

Pierre Engvall - 22-year-old winger with NHL size and good speed, but is a project in need of more experience.

Mason Marchment - big 23-year-old winger who plays with an edge and whose skills have improved immensely over the last two years.

Yegor Korshkov - big skilled 22-year-old winger who has been in the KHL since being selected at the top of the second round in 2016. Unknown commodity who has never played in North America.


Defense

Calle Rosen - 24 years old, Swedish blueliner signed as free agent out of the SHL, leads Marlies in defensive scoring.

Andreas Borgman - hard hitting blueliner who play half of last season in the NHL.


Goalie

Joseph Woll - 2016 third round pick who won gold for Team USA at the 2017 World Junior and enjoying a good junior season at Boston College.

Ian Scott - 2017 fourth round pick. The 19-year-old made Team Canada at the 2019 World Junior based on his phenomenal performance this season with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders.


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