Nick Alberga has one condition for Erik Karlsson landing with the Maple Leafs. Morgan Rielly has to go to Pittsburgh.
It's the kind of idea that lights up Toronto talk radio heading into tonight's game against the Rangers. And it deserves a hard look before anyone starts mocking up jerseys.
Start with the money. Karlsson carries an $11,500,000 cap hit, the biggest number on any NHL blue line.
Rielly sits at $7,500,000. A straight swap means Toronto swallows the difference, and that's before the Penguins ask for a sweetener.
On paper, the offensive case writes itself. The Swede has 11 points in 10 games, with four power-play assists already on the board.
Toronto's No. 44 has been quieter. Through 11 games, he's still hunting his first goal, sitting on seven assists.
-
A minus-7 stretch in Pittsburgh should scare the Leafs off
Here's the problem. Over his last five games, the 36-year-old went minus-7, and the Penguins have dropped four straight.
Pittsburgh is 3-6-1 and has allowed 38 goals in 10 games. A defenseman's numbers on a team leaking like that come with an asterisk, but they still count.
Toronto doesn't need help scoring. The Leafs are averaging 3.5 goals per game, and they hung six on Columbus Tuesday night.
The trouble sits on the other end, where Jim Hiller's group allows 3.2 goals per game.
Bringing in an offense-first defenseman to fix that is like calling a pastry chef because the roof leaks.
It's a bad fit. Toronto already has William Nylander on an identical cap hit, and doubling down on that number for a blueliner with this much mileage is a bad bet.
And moving Rielly thins out a back end that's light on production. Jake McCabe hasn't registered a point yet.
Darren Raddysh has five points, good for second among Toronto defensemen. Take away the top guy and that list gets ugly fast.
What does Pittsburgh get out of it? Kyle Dubas would be adding a 32-year-old on a cheaper number while his club sits 27th overall.
Toronto has other holes to plug, too. John Tavares is on IR with a lower-body injury and isn't expected back until at least Nov. 27.
If the Leafs spend assets this fall, the middle of the ice is the louder need.
Tonight's game against the Rangers opens a stretch that sends Toronto to Edmonton on Saturday and Calgary on Monday. A rough few nights on the back end, and this rumor won't stay a talk-show bit for long.
Should the Maple Leafs trade Morgan Rielly for Erik Karlsson?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Leafs mock trade sends Easton Cowan and Ekman-Larsson to Detroit for Simon Edvinsson
