Toronto reportedly tried to land big name defender, did not like asking price

The Toronto Maple Leafs were one of many teams in the market this past offseason looking for a big name defenseman to help bolster their blue line. The Leafs did bring in T.J. Brodie, but they were also tied to another big name defenseman in MacKenzie Weegar of the Florida Panthers.

Weegar is a 27-year old defenseman that plays a solid, physical game and does not negatively impact offense. Kyle Dubas was interested in the Canadian defenseman this past offseason, but the asking price coming from Florida was too much for his liking.

According to insider Elliotte Friedman on his 31 Thoughts podcast, the Panthers were asking for Travis Dermott and Andreas Johnsson in return for Weegar. This doesn't seem like that bad of a trade considering Johnsson was later traded for Joey Anderson, a player who has played just one game for the Leafs thus far in the season.

Weegar has been a stud for the Panthers this season, playing on the top pairing with Aaron Ekblad. He has tallied 5 assists in 14 games while averaging 23:13 in TOI. He has been a big reason as to why the Panthers currently sit first in the Central Division with 22 points (10-2-2), and one has to wonder how much of an impact he could have been able to make with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Friedman & Marek talking about how well MacKenzie Weegar is playing for Florida. Marek brings up how Dubas was interested in him in the offseason, Friedman said they wanted Dermott and Johnsson in a deal, Toronto said no. #LeafsForever #FlaPanthers— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) February 19, 2021

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