Elliotte Friedman listed the Toronto Maple Leafs' A assets on Monday, and the Colorado pick was the first thing out of his mouth.
On the 32 Thoughts Podcast, he said he'd assume that pick is one of them, along with a couple of top prospects who aren't in the NHL yet.
Read that last part twice. Prospects outside the NHL leaves out Gavin McKenna and Easton Cowan, the two kids who have dressed in all 10 games.
That matters. McKenna buried the game-winner on the power play last night against San Jose, and the 18-year-old did it in just 11:30 of ice time.
The 3-1 win over the Sharks snapped a three-game winless run. Toronto still sits sixth in the Atlantic at 4-4-2.
So why is anyone talking about A assets in October? Start with the injured list.
John Tavares is on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and isn't expected back until at least Nov. 27. Chris Tanev is on IR too, with an upper-body issue.
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Morgan Rielly's minus-6 start exposes Toronto's real trade need
The forward group can tread water for a while. Auston Matthews has 16 points in 10 games, and 10 of those came over his last five.
The blue line is where it gets ugly. Rielly went minus-6 through 10 games with no goals, while Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson have yet to register a point.
Darren Raddysh is soaking up the minutes instead. He logged 26:39 last night, and his $8,500,000 cap hit says Toronto expects exactly that.
And the crease hasn't covered for anybody. Sergei Bobrovsky carries a .902 save percentage, while Anthony Stolarz sits at .875.
Here's my problem. Burning the Colorado pick and two top prospects in October, for a team with a -1 goal differential, is a bad idea.
It's like selling your snow tires after the first flurry. Toronto winters get longer, not shorter.
The pick's value also rides on the Avalanche, who sit 5-3-1 with a +11 goal differential in the Central.
Toronto did beat them 6-3 in Denver on Oct. 10. Head-to-head bragging rights won't move a draft slot, though.
Jim Hiller doesn't get the luxury of patience in his first season behind the bench. His group visits Columbus tonight, then hosts the Rangers on Thursday.
After that comes a four-game swing through Edmonton, Calgary, Seattle and Vancouver. The Leafs are 1-1-1 on the road so far.
If that trip goes sideways, the phone calls get louder. And the real question becomes whether the front office blinks before Tavares is back in the lineup.
Should the Maple Leafs trade the Colorado pick before John Tavares returns?
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