Team: 2018-19 Toronto Maple Leafs

Initial Creation Date: Mar. 22, 2018

Published: Mar. 22, 2018

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

One main trade for Domi and Hjalmarsson. I agree Domi is "struggling" but he's still going to put up 40 points on a trash Arizona team and is an assist machine. Put him next to Matthews and it should up Matthews' goals and Domi's assists. At that cap hit, he really isn't a huge risk and could end up becoming a 55-60 points/year player in Toronto. I agree his last name causes bias, and having watched the leafs for as long as I have, I would be lying to say seeing Tie's son lace em up for the leafs wouldn't be awesome. But aside from that, he is realistically going to only improve and if in a down year he's putting up 40 points, an up year could have him around 60 if not more. He also has something the leafs lack a bit in toughness, while he's not a goon, he can fight and be an aggressor.

I also added Hjalmarsson to the deal because god knows we need a stable defensemen at the back. Do I think he is still a top 4 defensemen on a nightly basis? No. But I know he's great as a 5-6 and has the ability to step up if need be for a couple games. Macinnis is another prospect I picked up for the leafs because the leafs have terrible centre depth. He has played with Bracco so maybe the two can make up 2/3's of the fourth line in the near future.

In return, Arizona get a 1st round pick. I have it at 2019 for now but if they want the 2018 one, sure. The basis is they get a first round pick. Is it a big price? No, not when you look at the bigger picture. This pick and the prospects allow us to get even more talent up front an replace some of the points we are going to lose with JVR out-pricing himself. It also happens to help us acquire a LW where we are fairly weak in comparison to Centre and RW and we get to roll top 3C of Matthews-Kadri-Nylander.
We also upgrade our defence drastically with a strong stead presence for nearly 18 minutes a game and really solidify that last pairing. I don't think anyone in the draft at 25-30 is going to fill any of those roles for us. A 25-30 picked guy probably won't be of Domi's calibre so it makes sense to me.

Then I have Leivo going the other way. It seems everyone, and I do mean everyone keeps leapfrogging him on the depth chart and thats not due to ability. He needs to play and I think Arizona gives him an opportunity to do just that to carve himself out a 3rd line role with maybe 30 points a year. They get Carrick, a young defensemen that can grow with the team. And lastly, Pickard goes the other way because we suddenly have two goalies in the AHL that are tearing it up. He would immediately get a chance to earn a spot with the NHL club and because he is young, could end up being a 1-2 (he would be the 2) option long term for Arizona.

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