Toronto Maple Leafs were reportedly "razor-close" to trading for Quinn Hughes
Photo credit: Simon Fearn-Imagn Images
Quinn Hughes was traded to the Minnesota Wild on Friday, and as it turns out, the Toronto Maple Leafs were very close to making something happen.
The Toronto Maple Leafs need some offense from their defenseman. While Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson have been producing, there is a lot more that could be done.
When Quinn Hughes hit the trade market, the Maple Leafs were named as one of the teams that would be interested. After all, there have been calls for the team to move on from Rielly.
In the end, the Leafs were not able to make a deal work. Instead, Hughes was sent to the Minnesota Wild for players like Marco Rossi, Zeev Buium, and other pieces.
However, according to a report from Howard Berger, the Leafs were actually "razor close" to making a deal for the superstar defenseman.
The Toronto Maple Leafs wanted Quinn Hughes
In Berger's report, he states that the Maple Leafs could have traded Easton Cowan and Matthew Knies, but chose not to.
This is the only way the Maple Leafs would have been able to entice the Canucks to give them Hughes, but it would have mortgaged their future.
At the end of the day, trading Cowan and Knies would have angered the fanbase. Not to mention, the team needs these young players right now.
Furthermore, Hughes is going to be an unrestricted free agent in two Summers from now, and there is no guarantee that Hughes would want to stick around.
Either way, it is probably for the best that the Leafs avoided making a deal, even if it would have brought in a phenomenal defensive talent.
Only time will tell whether or not Hughes helps turn the Minnesota Wild into a real Stanley Cup contender.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 14 | 621 ANSWERS Toronto Maple Leafs were reportedly "razor-close" to trading for Quinn Hughes Do you believe the Toronto Maple Leafs should have traded for Quinn Hughes? | ||
| YES | 216 | 34.8 % |
| NO | 405 | 65.2 % |
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