Ducks Price for Defenseman Is a Joke

The Toronto Maple Leafs need a defenseman and the Ducks have a couple to trade or they’ll lose one in the expansion draft.

It looks like a match made in heaven. And the teams have a history of trading. Most recently for goalie Frederik Andersen.

But then, Darren Dreger was on TSN Radio and said this:

That is ridiculous.

Brandon Montour is a point-per-game defenseman in the AHL.  He might be a really good NHL player. Maybe even a star.  I really hope the Maple Leafs can get him.

But he isn’t worth William Nylander.

Give me a break.

Just because Edmonton makes a horrible trade, it doesn’t mean every team has to send an elite forward if they want a serviceable defenseman.

Leafs Could Use Montour

The Leafs would love to get a 22 year-old right-shooting defensman to pair with Morgan Rielly.  Montour would allow Zaitsev to move down to the third pairing and the Leafs would be a much better team.

But not for the cost of Nylander who is untouchable.

He’s a rookie who drives possession, plays good defense and projects to be a top-line centre. Matthews-Nylander-Kadri down the middle for the next five + years isn’t something you want to mess up.  It has the potentials to be a Crosby-Malkin-Bonino level threat.

If the Leafs want a defenseman, they need to play hard-ball with the Ducks.  The Ducks have Lindholm, Manson, Theodore, Fowler, Montour, Vattanen and Despres.  Even though the Ducks are in tight because of the expansion draft, Montour and Theodore don’t need to be protected, so it remains a mystery why the Ducks would even want to trade them in the first place.

If the Leafs are trading Nylander – which they shouldn’t – the damn well better be getting Hampus Lindholm back in return. That at least is a palatable deal, as Lindholm may already be an elite defenseman.  To gamble on Montour being that when you already have Carrick and you already know Nylander will be elite, it just seems like a bad risk/reward play.

Realistically:

Realistically, the Leafs should go for Manson. He isn’t going to cost Nylander and he’s a defensive defenseman who really is effective.  He’d make the Leafs instantly better and he wouldn’t cost so much.

What is with the Nylander trade chatter anyways?  The Leafs have a first rounder and Kapenan, those are the assets they should be using to get better, not one of the best players the team has ever drafted in its entire history.

More from Editor In Leaf

This article originally appeared on