Leafs are looking to acquire multiple defencemen

The Toronto Maple Leafs have a busy few weeks ahead of them.

With the NHL Draft set to begin on Friday, the Toronto GM spoke about the team’s key priorities ahead of one of the most important offseasons in recent memory.

“I think there are a lot of priorities. I don’t think it is a secret. Our defence is an area we would like to see if we can improve. It is easier said than done, but that is certainly an area we have been focused on,” Treliving told the media Wednesday in Las Vegas. “If you look at the trade market since we’ve finished the year, the difficulty is that the types of players you are looking for usually aren’t available in the trade market.”

NHL free agency is officially set to kick off on July 1. Toronto has five defencemen set to hit the market: Mark Giordano, TJ Brodie, Joel Edmundson, John Klingberg, and Ilya Lyubushkin.

“We have some cap space, but you look at the holes we have to fill, and it goes quickly. We are trying to be as prudent as we can to look at the defence… I wouldn’t say, ‘Look at it first,’ but look at it first before we commit too many cap dollars anywhere else.”

Treliving was then asked if the Leafs were looking to add multiple defencemen, which he answered affirmatively.

“The math would say so. When you say add, it could be guys we have. When you look at it, we have four guys under contract and one guy who is restricted. We have to add bodies, whether that is guys whose contracts are expiring and bringing them back,” he said. If you look at our defence, you guys all follow it. We would like to help the right side of our defence. Now, at what cost? Can you do that through the trade market? You could probably trade for one, but are you creating another hole somewhere else? Long-winded answer. I would say we are looking to add more than one.”

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