It's no secret the Toronto Maple Leafs need to upgrade their blueline, ideally adding a right-shot defenseman to play the top pairing alongside Morgan Rielly.
At their disposal, the Maple Leafs have a prime winger in James van Riemsdyk to offer up for that much-needed piece. With that in mind, here are three teams who boast the defensive depth but could use a boost to their scoring ranks to make such a move possible:
Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks own arguably the league's deepest blueline, headlined by Hampus Lindholm, Cam Fowler, and Sami Vatanen.
The 25-year-old Fowler is in the midst of career year, already with 11 tallies on the season, while Lindholm remains the team's top defender on the left side. At the same time, young and affordable blue-liners like Shea Theodore and Brandon Montour are pushing for more minutes, and moving out another defender like Vatanen could create that space.
With just 147 goals on the season, ranking 19th league-wide, the Ducks lack secondary scoring, and could cash in on offense if the team is willing to strip a piece from its blueline. Adding van Riemsdyk could reinvigorate Anaheim's scoring punch, as his 19 tallies would be the best on the Ducks behind only Rickard Rakell.
Minnesota Wild
The Wild are too good for their own good. That's because the team faces a crunch ahead of the summer expansion draft, when the Vegas Golden Knights will get to pick off a piece of the Wild roster.
Teams can protect either three defensemen and seven forwards from the expansion, or a combination of eight skaters, the latter option being likely for Minnesota, given that the Wild have at least four blue-liners they will want to keep in the fold. Ryan Suter is an automatic, plus he has a no-movement clause, while the likes of Jared Spurgeon, Jonas Brodin, and Marco Scandella are also worth keeping around. That means the odd man out could be young defenseman Matt Dumba.
Up front, Minnesota has three more no-move deals, but could the team approach a veteran winger like Jason Pominville to waive his clause ahead of the expansion to give the team some more flexibility? Doing so would give the Wild another two protection slots, one it will need for Finnish forward Mikael Granlund, while the other could go to van Riemsdyk, should he be acquired from Toronto.
New York Islanders
It's been a turnaround season for the Islanders, where after months of sub-par play the team has found its game under new bench boss Doug Weight.
While early season losses displayed some of the Islanders' weaknesses, one area where the team is strong is its blueline, featuring a depth of talent including Johnny Boychuk, Nick Leddy, and Travis Hamonic. A season ago, Hamonic asked for a trade to be closer to his Manitoba home, and while that request has since been rescinded, the Islanders may still be open to a move.
While the team's blueline is strong, New York's forward ranks aren't nearly as deep, where the club has shuffled through a host of players to skate alongside captain John Tavares, a free agent after next season. In recent weeks, the captain has paired with Anders Lee and Josh Bailey, though neither player is on the same level as van Riemsdyk. This season, the Maple Leafs winger sits just one point shy of Tavares, who has 44 points on the year.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)
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