Evaluating Toronto Maple Leafs assets for potential Nazem Kadri or Rasmus Andersson deal

Right away, it’s easy to see why any fit with the Maple Leafs becomes a struggle. They simply have zero draft capital to work with over the next two seasons, holding just one single pick inside the top two rounds. For a team like the Flames who is building for the future, that’s less than ideal in a trade partner.

The next time the Maple Leafs hold a first-round pick isn’t until the 2028 draft, three years from now. While a first-round pick is a first-round pick, I can’t see the Flames having interest in a first round selection that won’t even be made until a year after Scotia Place opens.

That timeline doesn’t really jive with the organization’s goal of being competitive by the 2027–28 season. Perhaps the pick could be viewed as an additional asset to bring in help in a different deal, but regardless a 2028 first-rounder probably isn’t very exciting if you’re Craig Conroy.

Prospects

In their quest to win more than one playoff round, the Maple Leafs have been aggressive when it comes to trading top prospects for immediate help. For that reason they currently have one of the worst prospect pools in the entire NHL. Back in January, The Athletic ranked Toronto’s farm system as the 28th best in the league. Here are their most notable prospects.

Much like their current draft capital, the pickings are similarly very slim with the Maple Leafs prospect pool. There’s a reason they have have what many consider a bottom five prospect pool in the league. Their pool got even worse this past season as they traded two of their top prospects in Fraser Minten and Nikita Grebenkin in trade deadline deals. That’s left them what can only be described as an underwhelming group of young assets.

The most notable name by far is Easton Cowan. The memorial cup champion and 2023 first-round pick is really the only prospect the Maple Leafs have that could be considered a blue chipper. The issue is I suspect even Cowan isn’t that enticing for Calgary. As an average sized offensive winger, he doesn’t exactly fit what the Flames need right now, even if he does have some enticing talent.

After Cowan the drop off is quite large. The only other first round talent the Maple Leafs currently have is Ben Danford, a heavy right-shot defensive defenceman. He’d offer a different type of skillset to the Flames right side, but his ceiling is likely a bottom-pairing defender. Not exactly the type of asset you want back for Kadri or Andersson.

If I’m Conroy and the Flames, there isn’t a single prospect in the Maple Leafs system that would peak my interest outside of Cowan.

NHL players

Given they’re currently in win-now mode, Toronto doesn’t have a ton of young talent on its current roster. With that said, here are some young NHL players Toronto currently has who could potentially be of interest to the Flames:

Let’s be frank here. There is one single player here who should be of interest to the Flames in any Kadri or Andersson deal, and he’s the one player the Maple Leafs absolutely wouldn’t trade. That player is of course Matthew Knies. Knies is a legitimate top-six talent, with the potential to become a true top line winger one day. For that reason he’d be a great get for the Flames, but also likely untouchable in Toronto.

After Knies, there really isn’t anything to write home about here. Maccelli and Robertson are both middle-six wingers, something the Flames certainly don’t need more of. Benoit would fit nicely on the left side, but he’s a third pairing defender at best. Simply put, I don’t see anyone of interest here if you’re Conroy.

A trade simply doesn’t make sense

When you break it all down, it’s hard to see a path towards a trade with the Maple Leafs for either Andersson or Kadri. Toronto just simply doesn’t have the assets required to make a deal of that magnitude, and the Flames should absolutely not be looking to make a deal for less than either player is worth. Unless a player like Knies becomes available, Conroy would be wise to avoid any trade talks with his former boss in Toronto.