Calls for the Toronto Maple Leafs to shore up their backend have been increasing with each passing day.
General Manager Brad Treliving has made it known that the team is prioritizing acquiring a centre to improve its depth down the middle. This makes sense given the drop-off between Auston Matthews and John Tavares and the rest of the team’s options. But with Morgan Rielly’s struggles, how exposed the Leafs are when Jake McCabe is hurt, and the other options’ failure to step up in the event of injuries, there is a growing concern about the fortitude of Toronto’s defensive unit.
While the primary focus should still be to get a quality centre, Treliving will need to seriously consider his options for how to best get help for the backend. It’s certainly possible that the two needs can be addressed in one move, as I wrote on January 24 of a hypothetical trade with the Buffalo Sabres involving Peyton Krebs and Henri Jokiharju. But the more likely outcome is that the centre is added in one trade and the defenceman is done in a separate transaction, which could very well be a depth add.
Should the latter end up being the case, one defenceman the Leafs should consider as a cheap option is Matthew Kessel of the St. Louis Blues.
St. Louis goal!
Scored by Scott Perunovich with 12:53 remaining in the 1st period.
Assisted by Matthew Kessel and Jordan Kyrou.
St. Louis: 1
Washington: 1#WSHvsSTL #stlblues #ALLCAPS pic.twitter.com/8KKGNfR9cP— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 10, 2024
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Standing at 6’2″ and weighing 205 pounds, the 24-year-old right-shot defenceman is not related to Phil Kessel and plays a vastly different game when compared to the former sniper. Matthew Kessel is seen more as a steady defensive blueliner who is dependable in his own end and is patient with the puck while making smart decisions when he has it. He may not be a fast skater, but he is smooth at getting into the right positions and helps put out the fires in both the neutral zone and his own end of the ice.
Kessel is good at reading the play and not forcing something that isn’t there, which is the kind of trait you need to have to become a mainstay in the NHL. His game is not predicated on putting up a lot of points but he has good awareness of getting the puck to the right areas. This is evident in the above clip where he recognized that Scott Perunovich had snuck past the defence before sending made a crisp pass to set up the goal.
He is the kind of player who thrives when paired up with a more offensive defenceman as Kessel’s steadiness frees up room for his partner to get free reign up the ice. Perhaps he could be the solution to Rielly’s struggles this season as he has yet to find a stable partner who can help him get back on track. While some may be quick to point to Philippe Myers being there already, the towering blueliner has not been a mainstay in the lineup and has had plenty of games lately where his ice time was down so that signals head coach Craig Berube doesn’t fully trust Myers.
Speaking of Berube, he would be familiar with what Kessel brings to the table, as he saw the defenceman’s development firsthand over the three seasons they were in the same organization. He would have an idea of what type of system he would be entering and wouldn’t need a long adjustment period as a result. There is a good chance that Berube believes there is a quality NHL player in Kessel who can be unlocked in the right situation.
That’s because the Blues’ deployment of young players lately has been quite unusual, to say the least. Despite playing a steady game that would be useful to help shore up the backend, St. Louis has opted to use him sparingly while keeping him in the AHL for lengthy stretches. It is an odd move considering the team has been mired in mediocrity for the last few seasons and is in desperate need of a major shakeup to the roster. And he has been showing he is too good for the AHL as he has produced 11 points (four goals and seven assists) in 17 games with the Springfield Thunderbirds. That’s not to say that Kessel’s presence would suddenly make them a contender but it would surely be beneficial for him getting an extended look.
A case in point is Perunovich, who was floundering in the Blues system despite plenty of evidence showing he is a quality defenceman who just needs an extended run in the NHL. He was recently traded to the New York Islanders and while the sample size is small, he is already starting to thrive with his new team with two assists in four games while averaging roughly 19 minutes of ice time compared to 14:37 with St. Louis.
Kessel could certainly be the next in line to thrive away from the Blues, and it would not cost a lot to acquire his services. His three assists in 27 NHL games along with 22 hits and 20 blocks don’t necessarily jump off the page, yet St. Louis has the lion’s share of puck possession and scoring chances at 5v5 when he is on the ice. His defensive metrics in the NHL are positive and he doesn’t hurt the team in his own end, so he could certainly see those numbers continue to improve with a longer runway.
Here are two hypothetical trades that would result in Kessel joining the Leafs:
Option 1
To TOR: Matthew Kessel
To STL: Topi Niemela
Option 2
To TOR: Alexey Toropchenko, Matthew Kessel
To STL: Matt Benning, Nick Robertson, 2025 fifth-round pick
The first option is a straight-up swap involving a prospect taken in the same year as Kessel. Niemela has fallen down the depth charts in the Leafs system and there is a good chance he could be on his way out, given the fact he doesn’t align with how Treliving and Berube want to build the team. The second is one where the Leafs make a bigger move that sees a shakeup in their bottom six while a player I have talked about numerous times as one the team should be eying is the primary piece coming to Toronto along with Kessel.
Whether it be via my options mentioned or another way, the Leafs would be smart to target Kessel as he could be a sneaky good defensive trade option for them. He is fairly young, shoots right, plays a steady game, and makes smart plays with the puck. The underlying numbers suggest he can make a positive impact and he could be the kind of defenceman that helps Rielly get back on track.
It wouldn’t take many assets to get his services, and it would be the type of move that pays off dividends both now and down the line. All of which is to say that Treliving should seriously consider giving Doug Armstrong a call to see what it would take to bring Kessel to Toronto.
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