Could The Leafs Move Ilya Mikheyev For A Defenseman At The Trade Deadline?

Like many NHL teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs are looking for help. Fortunately for them, there will be high-quality blueliners available by the March 21 trade deadline, but they will be costly to any team that wins the bidding war for their services.

That said, the Leafs can definitely be a player at or before the trade deadline. They’ve got more than enough talent at forward, and they can afford to peel off one or two current players to balance out their lineup and become deeper on the back end. And the player I think is going to be dangled at teams is winger Ilya Mikheyev. He’s exactly the kind of player teams will be looking for at the deadline – a player in his prime (he’s 27) who can help out other teams more than he can help Toronto right now.

Mikheyev requested a trade last season when his opportunities with the Leafs weren’t to his liking, but he has been a solid citizen for the Buds this season, and his production on offense when healthy has been terrific: in 10 games this year, he’s generated six goals and seven points while averaging only 15:45 of ice time. The big Russian is probably right to believe he’s earned more minutes, but Toronto simply doesn’t have enough minutes available to make everyone happy.

More importantly, the Leafs don’t have enough cap space to satisfy Mikheyev when he becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer. He’s currently earning only $1.645 million, but the more he scores in a Toronto uniform, the more he’ll be pricing himself out of the Leafs’ reach. GM Kyle Dubas can’t afford to let Mikheyev walk away for nothing in return, but he can use him to acquire a better rental player for Toronto’s current needs.

And so, if we look around the NHL, there are a couple of targets that stand out for the Leafs – targeted teams who could happily accept Mikheyev in a trade: the first, and a higher-impact player is Dallas Stars D-man John Klingberg. The second is former Calgary Flames captain and current Seattle Kraken defenseman Mark Giordano.

It will take more than Mikheyev to land Klingberg, an above-average, 29-year-old, puck-moving defenseman who will also be a UFA after this season. Klingberg is in line for a significant raise on the $4.25 million he’s earning this year, and there will be many teams lining up to give him the average salary – and, more crucially, the length of term of the contract – that he’s looking for. The Stars aren’t going to keep him, and they would be pleased to acquire a talented forward like Mikheyev, as they’ve got enough skill on the back end and aren’t nearly deep enough up front.

The Leafs won’t have enough cap space to be one of those teams vying for Klingberg over the long term, so he’d likely be a half-season rental in Toronto. And it may not make sense for Dubas to throw Mikhehev (and probably a high draft pick or above-average prospect) overboard when he can get someone else for a lower overall price,

That brings us to Giordano, the Toronto native who played admirably in Calgary for so many years before being selected by Seattle in the expansion draft. In this, his first year with the first-year Kraken, Giordano has performed about as well as a 38-year-old on an expansion team could play: he’s second on Seattle in ice time, averaging 21:21 per game while chipping in four goals and 16 points in 37 games. Giordano is also going to be a UFA after this season, but he likely could be re-signed by the Leafs at a far-lower average annual salary than the $6.75 million he’s earning this season. Dubas may be able to convince Giordano to take, say, $4 million per season on a two or three-year hometown deal. Playing at home would be part of the appeal for Giordano, who would be solidifying a legitimate playoff team, and who wouldn’t need to be the first or second option for the Leafs on the blueline. And the price Toronto would pay for him in a trade would be notably less than the price for Klingberg.

If I’m Kraken GM Ron Francis, Mikheyev is precisely the type of player I’d want in return for Giordano – a legitimately talented offensive force whose best years likely are ahead, and a player who won’t completely break the bank when he signs a new contract this summer. Seattle has more than enough cap space to accommodate Mikheyev, and they’ll have more than enough ice time to give him.

The Leafs aren’t about to pull off a blockbuster deal, but moving Mikheyev won’t qualify as such. Dubas would be shipping out someone he doesn’t have the financial resources to retain, and he can use him to make a move for Giordano knowing he’s addressing Toronto’s chief competitive concern.

In many ways, it’s tough for the Leafs to say goodbye to Mikheyev, but this is how the hockey world works in the cap era. You continuously have to have a wellspring of young talent to replace veterans who leave for bigger paydays, and sometimes you have to deal those veterans before they walk away in order to restock your long-term depth and/or add a proven veteran on a short-term contract.

Mikheyev isn’t a marquee name for most hockey fans, but NHL GMs know what he’s capable of, and they know Toronto’s cap situation is not conducive to signing him long-term. This is why he’s the Leafs player most likely to be dealt this season.

Appreciate him while you can, Leafs fans. Mikheyev is going to be a prosperous performer for some team over the next seven or eight years, but it’s very unlikely he’ll be one in Toronto. But the Leafs can make the most of him by shipping him out for an asset better suited to help them now.