When I look at the Maple Leafs’ roster, I notice two significant holes in their lineup that need to be filled ahead of the beginning of the 2025 NHL Playoffs: a bottom six, right handed centerman, and a bottom four, right shot defenceman.
Going into the trade deadline, a team the Leafs are all too familiar with have two very appealing players that meet both needs. With the Montreal Canadiens on the outside of the playoff race and likely to sell at the upcoming trade deadline, Jake Evans and David Savard would both make excellent Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Leafs currently do not have a right handed centerman on their roster, much less a right handed penalty killing centerman. Their two bottom six centers are Pontus Holmberg and David Kampf, who have combined for a total of 21 points in 89 games so far this season. Despite a two game surge of productivity from both coming out of the 4 Nations break, that’s not good enough. Both players are minuses on the stat sheet, though both do play a role on the Toronto penalty kill (which succeeds at a 79.6% clip so far this season). Holmberg, a pending UFA, has an $800k cap hit and serves as a solid fourth line center for the Leafs.
Kampf, on the other hand, has a cap hit of $2.4 million per year until 2026/27. His contract won’t be simple to move – I’d be shocked if he were claimed for free on waivers if the Leafs decided to send him down – which they won’t. Toronto is happy to have Kampf in their lineup, but that’s not to say they wouldn’t be open to an upgrade on him if it means acquiring a rental and shedding his contract.
Possible Solution:
Six hours east on the 401/20, Jake Evans, a pending UFA and Toronto native, continues to play the best hockey of his career as Montreal’s fourth line center. Evans, a right handed-shot, currently has 27 points in 57 games, is a +2, and is the top penalty killer on the 7th best penalty kill in the league (81.5%). His cap-hit is modest at $1.7 million, and at the age of 28, he could be a prime candidate for an extension with his hometown team – especially if a player like David Kampf is moved in the deal.
Evans is a proficient faceoff man, hence his importance to one of the league’s best penalty kills: He’s won 52.5% of his faceoffs this year. He’s a few percentage points behind Tavares and Matthews, but a significant upgrade on Holmberg and a slight one on Kampf. Evans is also right-handed, important because he could take the right side defensive zone faceoffs. The Leafs do not have a similar player right now.
The Canadiens also possess another player who will likely be very popular as we inch closer to the March 7th deadline: defenceman David Savard.
When I look at the Leafs’ defence corps right now, I feel good about it – but I know it can improve. I really do believe that David Savard would be a significant improvement on a player like Philippe Myers and even Simon Benoit.
Savard is a similar player to Chris Tanev, albeit two inches shorter and 35 pounds heavier. He isn’t fleet of foot, but he plays a sound defensive game. He’s a shot blocking menace, a great penalty killer, and while he doesn’t fight, he plays with an edge and a grit that proves invaluable during a long playoff run – just watch some of his physical highlights from when he won the Cup with Tampa in 2021. In 51 games this year, Savard has 123 blocked shots, 12 takeaways, and 12 points. He’d be an immediate upgrade in bottom four, especially with Jani Hakanpaa’s uncertain bill of health.
As with anything the Leafs do at the deadline, money will be a problem. Evans’ salary is modest and he can fit into the lineup with relative ease, but Savard at $3.5 million is more problematic, especially with the Canadiens only possessing one retention slot. The Leafs would need to send money back the other way.
Mock trade:
Here’s what I’m thinking:
To Toronto: Jake Evans, David Savard (50% retention), 2025 fourth round pick = combined cap hit of $3.45 million.
To Montreal: David Kampf, Conor Timmins, Nikita Grebenkin, 2026 first round pick and a 2025 second round pick = a combined cap hit of $3.5 million with Grebenkin in the minors. In this scenario, Toronto gains 50k in cap space.
I know it’s a steep price to pay – but let’s break it down.
Kampf is a usable player, but let’s face it: he’s an overpriced fourth line center with a term – two years of it after this season. As such, he doesn’t possess value: Toronto needs to shed money to make the deal work, as Montreal isn’t helping them for free. Timmins is thrown in to make the money work: he’s a serviceable defenceman, but with Savard and possibly Hakanpaa coming back, he doesn’t have a spot on the roster, especially with a $1.1 million cap hit. These are two roster players the Leafs move on from and replace with significant upgrades to their team.
What hurts here is parting with the first, second, and Grebenkin.
In 2021, Savard was traded for a first and a third. He’s slowed since then but still plays the same game to about the same effect, to trade him and use their final retention slot, Montreal isn’t moving him unless there is a first round pick coming back. Toronto moves a first round pick next year to acquire a Cup champion who can help them win now.
The rumored asking price for Jake Evans is a second round pick plus a prospect. Grebenkin is an attractive prospect, much more so than a guy like Roni Hirvonen, but he pushes the deal over the top and lands Toronto cap retention, an additional fourth rounder and gets them out of Kampf’s deal. This instantly improves the Leafs penalty kill, their defence corps, and gives them an offensive producing pivot in their bottom six. A steep price to pay, sure, but when you’re looking to win a cup, you take your chances.
For another recent mock trade article, focused on Dylan Cozens of the Buffalo Sabres, click here.
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