The bold trade the Maple Leafs might need to make to finally get a real first-line right winger

Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

The Toronto Maple Leafs may need to bite the bullet and end up trading one of their goalies once they get healthy in order to truly improve their first line winger situation.

With the Toronto Maple Leafs finally settling into the style that we had expected of them this season, there is still an issue of the team being unable to get things going on their power play, and the constant injury issues still haven’t eluded them.

Right now, they are dealing with two key defensive injuries, and they are down both their regular starting goaltenders. While there is some positive news towards their eventual returns, they are still going to be out for the time being.

How the Maple Leafs suddenly went from scrambling in net to having three tradeable goalies

But when they return it’s going to be critical that they end up getting back into form quickly, not just so that the Maple Leafs don’t need to rely so heavily on their rookie goalies, but because they might be a key piece in improving their top-six.

Woll has been stellar this season and has proven to be impactful when healthy, and Stolarz while struggling, has shown that he can be starter material for a majority of the teams in the NHL.

Dennis Hildeby is more of a project, but has performed much better this season. And luckily, Toronto has all three under contract on bargain deals. They’ve never had three potential starters let alone with their cheap deals and contracts length, so it might be a bit premature to break that up already.

What it would really cost the Maple Leafs to turn a goalie into a first-line right winger

For the first time in years, the Leafs actually have three cheap, tradable goalies – and that might be the only way to afford a true top winger for Auston Matthews.

We know that the Maple Leafs can handle things without Mitch Marner, but with how Matthews has underperformed, giving him a consistent top-level winger could be the key to picking things up for the captain.

It’s not a short-term project either, as the player Toronto goes after can’t be a rental, and there needs to be some plan for them in the future should they work well with Matthews.

But that is going to come at a premium, and with Toronto reportedly neglecting to move their future assets and focus on ‘hockey trades’, they could certainly find a suitor for one of their goaltenders.

Teams like Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Carolina all need goaltending help this year, and although it’s not going to be an earth-shattering deal, Toronto could dangle Stolarz or Woll in a potential deal.

That would give Edmonton an improvement over Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, on a very team-friendly deal. But it’s also going to cost them a top-six piece, and the Maple Leafs could look at someone like Vasily Podkolzin, a young and physical winger who fits the need for more youth in Toronto.

The risk is obvious: if you move a goalie and Woll or Stolarz gets hurt again, you’ve just recreated the same crisis in March, and we’re back to square one.

It’s a tough bullet to bite for Brad Treliving, but with the cost of everything skyrocketing this season, it might be a necessary price to pay if he really wants to improve the team up front.

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The bold trade the Maple Leafs might need to make to finally get a real first-line right winger

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