Toronto Maple Leafs looking to possibly steal a defenseman from the rival Boston Bruins

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Andrew Loftus
September 30, 2022 (3:23 PM)

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The regular season has not even started, and the injury bug has started for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Specifically, their defenseman. We already know Timothy Liljegren is out several weeks with a sports hernia surgery. Jake Muzzin has been troubled with back issues. If that wasn't enough, Wednesday nights preseason game against the Montreal Canadiens saw depth defenseman Jordie Benn and Carl Dahlstrom leave the game due to injury.

This indeed is not good news for Toronto, and it is not the way you want to approach your season.

The Maple Leafs might have to get creative if any of these defensemen are going to miss a significant amount of time. TSN insider Darren Dreger reports that Toronto are looking at sturdy defenseman Anton Stralman. Stralman is currently on a professional tryout contract with the Boston Bruins. With Stralman on a PTO he can be signed by any team in the NHL.

Although he is not the defenseman he used to be, Stralman can effectively step in and help fill the void on the blueline for Toronto. The Bruins are also thin on the blueline without Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk to start the regular season. Let's see if Toronto gets aggressive here and addresses some much-needed defensive depth at this point, at the Bruins expense.

You might recall that Stralman started his career with the Maple Leafs back in 2007. He is now a fifteen-year veteran defenseman closing in a one thousand career games. Stralman skated for the Arizona Coyotes last season recording eight goals and fifteen assists.