The Toronto Maple Leafs have reportedly had exploratory inquiries about Calgary Flames defenceman Zach Whitecloud, according to The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta.

“I look at a team like the Toronto Maple Leafs. A team looking to bolster their blue line. The previous regime had a lot of interest in him,” he said during an appearance on DFO Insider on October 7. “I believe there have been at least exploratory inquiries. I don’t even know if I’d say poking or whatever, but I think they’re one of the teams that would look at him.”

Pagnotta also mentioned that mere minutes after the Flames originally acquired him from the Vegas Golden Knights at the trade deadline last season, a ton of teams reached out to Calgary’s GM Craig Conroy to ask what his plan was for Whitecloud. All of which is to say that plenty of other teams will have their eyes on the defenceman if he is indeed up for grabs.

The Leafs wanting to shore up their blueline makes sense, especially in the wake of Chris Tanev suffering an upper body injury and being placed on IR on Monday. Even before the ailment, the Leafs’ backend was a weak spot heading into the season as the unit as a whole was old and slow. This has been exposed throughout the first few games, where the collective play to this point has been far from stellar.

Whitecloud would bring ample experience as a Stanley Cup winner and would also be the second-youngest defenceman on the team behind only Nick Blankenburg. He is a stay-at-home blueliner who plays with some bite and could make for an ideal running mate alongside an offensive defenceman such as Morgan Rielly or Darren Raddysh. And while offence is not his calling card, Whitecloud has surpassed double-digit points in every full season he has played.

Whitecloud has gone scoreless in five games so far this season. He is coming off a 17-point year split between the Flames and Knights, which was his second-highest scoring output. Whitecloud is under contract for this season and next at a cap hit of $2.75 million.

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