RUMOR: Trade Talks Involving Top 4 Defenseman To The Toronto Maple Leafs Are Intensifying
The Toronto Maple Leafs have been one of the most underwhelming teams in the NHL this season. One of the reasons for this is that the team has looked terrible defensively and several key injuries on the back end have depleted the roster.
Toronto Maple Leafs Lose Key Defensemen To Injuries
The Maple Leafs have suffered many injuries on the back end this year. It started off with Timothy Liljegren suffering an ankle injury after he was slew footed by Brad Marchand. The team placed him on long-term injured reserve just over a month ago.
The next major injury came when veteran defenseman John Klingberg apparently had a serious flareup of a reoccurring injury he has dealt with throughout his career. He is now out for the rest of the season.
The team then lost the resident old guy on the team in Mark Giordano when he suffered a hand injury over a week ago. He is expected to be out 4-6 weeks.
The team has also been without Connor Timmins since the preseason. As a result of all these injuries, the team is now looking at the trade block to solve their problems.
New Rumor Links Leafs To Flames Top Four Defenseman
Eklund of the NHL rumor site HockeyBuzz.com reported today that the Leafs and Bruins are the final two teams making a serious push for Hanifin. He mentions that the Islanders are in on him as well, but they are an unlikely landing spot at this point.
Not a whole lot of info regarding the possible destinationsbut I was told this weekend there could be a deal in place.with either Toronto or Boston..outside chance of the Islanders.
Hanifin is a legit top-four defenseman that would bring a much needed boost to the Leafs defense core. There is only so much one player can do to help fill on for several injuries, but he would still be a significant improvement on the current squad. The Leafs have been linked to him earlier in the season as well as Nikita Zadorov so it will be interesting to see if they are able to pull off this trade or not. In this case, the Leafs may feel more pressure to get a deal done thanks to the fact that their hated rivals, the Bruins, are the other team reportedly in on him.
As seen on Hanifin Deal Heating Up?
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 10 | 233 ANSWERS RUMOR: Trade Talks Involving Top 4 Defenseman To The Toronto Maple Leafs Are Intensifying Do you think the Leafs will acquire Hanifin in a trade this year? | ||
| Yes | 99 | 42.5 % |
| No | 134 | 57.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
