The Toronto Maple Leafs want a premium defenceman, but Easton Cowan isn't the currency they plan to spend heading into tonight's game in Columbus.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman said on Monday's 32 Thoughts that a couple of people came to him with the same read: Toronto doesn't seem interested in moving the 21-year-old forward.
“They really seem to believe he's the real deal,” Friedman said. In the organization's eyes, the kid has come a long way in a short time.
The production gives that belief some teeth. Of his three goals this season, two have stood up as game-winners.
He was held off the scoresheet in Monday's 3-1 win over San Jose, but still logged 15:19 of ice time.
So what is Toronto actually shopping for? Darren Raddysh, Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Troy Stecher and Chris Tanev are all 30 or older.
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Toronto's blue line still hasn't scored a single goal
Through the first 10 games, not one Maple Leafs defenceman has found the back of the net. McCabe and Ekman-Larsson have combined for no points at all.
Rielly does have four assists. He also carries a -6 rating, the worst mark on the entire roster.
Friedman's more telling nugget came later. Toronto is willing to go “older for younger,” which people around the league read as the veteran defencemen being available for the right return.
Rielly's $7.5 million cap hit makes him the hardest one to move. Ekman-Larsson, at 35, looks like the most logical piece to go.
Friedman also pointed to the Colorado pick and a couple of prospects not yet in the NHL as the kind of A assets Toronto might put on the table.
That's the right call. Trading Cowan now would be like cashing in a savings bond the same week it finally starts paying interest.
There's a clock ticking in the background, too. Friedman noted that Auston Matthews has only one year left on his deal.
Matthews has done his part with 16 points, three of them coming against the Sharks.
The rest of the roster hasn't kept pace. Toronto sits 4-4-2, sixth in its own division.
Sergei Bobrovsky's .902 save percentage isn't erasing much of the traffic in front of him either.
And with John Tavares on injured reserve until at least Nov. 27, subtracting a forward who's already scoring winners would leave the lineup even thinner up front.
After tonight's stop in Columbus and Thursday's home date with the Rangers, the Maple Leafs head west for Edmonton, Calgary, Seattle and Vancouver.
That's a long trip to survive with this blue line. The real question is whether the front office lands its defenceman before those four buildings expose every hole.
Should the Maple Leafs keep Easton Cowan off the table even if a true number one defenceman becomes available?
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