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Oh, baby.
The appetite for the trade deadline is reaching full drool.
As evidenced by the number of trade-related questions submitted for this edition of the Maple Leafs Mailbag, fans are antsy and opinionated when it comes to general manager Kyle Dubas’s next move.
And we don’t blame them.
For variety’s sake, we also fielded questions on the NHL’s controversial playoff format, coach Sheldon Keefe’s goaltending strategy, Michael Bunting and Auston Matthews’ next contracts, and measuring-stick games.
Mostly we talk trades, though.
Let’s give the people what they want.
Aside from the big names we all dream of the Leafs landing, who are some realistic trade targets who could make an impact on the Leaf roster?
I’m of the mind that the big names — Timo Meier, Jakob Chychrun, Ryan O’Reilly, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Vladmir Tarasenko — are not unrealistic. (You gotta be willing to pay the price, though. And there was a time I thought Alex Pietrangelo was precisely the perfect — if expensive — target for this franchise.)
Dubas loves finding value others may overlook, he prefers non-rentals and he memorably got outbid around this time last winter for Brandon Hagel, who has fit in nicely with a rival.
Some less-heralded trade candidates this time around include Ivan Barbashev, Vladislav Gavrikov, Luke Schenn, Sam Lafferty, Jake McCabe, Adam Henrique and Max Comtois.
Comtois is an interesting one. He’s a pending RFA with arbitration rights carrying a manageable $2.04-million hit. The 210-pound left wing is only 24.