Leafs pursuing trade for Flames defenceman Tanev: report
The Toronto Maple Leafs need some help on the blue line. And it could be coming soon.
With three of their key defencemen going down with injuries in recent weeks, it’s unsurprising to learn that Leafs GM Brad Treliving has been exploring the open market.
And according to Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman, a deal for not one, but two of the Clagary Flames’ top four d-men was getting done before roadblocks got in the way.
“Calgary and Toronto considered a complicated deal for both Chris Tanev and Nikita Zadorov, which collapsed when the two sides could not agree on what the Maple Leafs would have to pay for salary retention,” Friedman wrote in his latest edition of 32 Thoughts. “In addition to what Toronto needed to include to acquire the defenders themselves, there would be additional compensation to get Calgary to eat cash.”
Friedman also reported on the approximate amount of salary that Toronto wanted Calgary to retain for both Zadorov and Tanev.
“Assuming the Flames keeping 50% on both, the total would be around $3.1 million,” he added. “Calgary drew a hard line on what it would take â as is the Flamesâ right â and the Maple Leafs werenât willing to go there.”
While Zadorov was ultimately traded to the Vancouver Canucks for a pair of draft picks last week, a new report from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Sun indicates that the Leafs remain in “hot pursuit” of Tanev.
“A league executive told Postmedia on Tuesday that Treliving remains in hot pursuit of the 33-year-old Tanev, whoâs in the final year of a contract that will pay him US$4.5 million this season,” Garrioch wrote.
“Discussions between Flames general manager Craig Conroy and Treliving continue because Tanev is the right defenceman the Leafs want to add to their core.”