Roman Josi's name keeps surfacing as John Chayka hunts a top-pair defenceman, and the Maple Leafs blue line badly needs one.
Chayka has made it clear that no player on his roster is untradeable. The Leafs GM is open to another blockbuster, and he isn't hiding where he wants to spend.
Heading into tonight's game in Seattle, Toronto's defencemen have combined for three goals through 14 games.
Troy Stecher owns two of them. Morgan Rielly and Darren Raddysh, the two guys expected to drive offence from the back end, are still looking for their first.
Raddysh carries an $8.5 million cap hit and has six assists. Oliver Ekman-Larsson sits at one point with a -4 rating.
And the depth chart is thin right now. Chris Tanev and Marshall Rifai are both on IR, expected out until at least October 31.
Monday's 5-2 loss in Calgary didn't help. At 7-5-2, Toronto sits fifth in its division while Auston Matthews and the forwards carry the load.
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Zach Werenski and Roman Josi headline Toronto's trade wish list
Josi is the most realistic big swing. The 36-year-old has 12 points in 12 games, and eight of those came as power play assists.
Nashville sits at 4-3-5, with five losses past regulation. Barry Trotz has a decision coming if those single points keep piling up without wins.
The Leafs already got a close look, edging the Predators 5-4 in overtime back on October 6.
The money is the hard part. Josi carries a $9,059,000 cap hit, and Rielly's $7.5 million is the most obvious salary to send the other way.
Then there's Zach Werenski. Columbus sits 27th overall at 5-5-0, and the blueliner has eight assists with a +7 rating.
Toronto walked into Columbus on October 20 and won 6-2. Don Waddell isn't handing his best defenceman to the club that just embarrassed his team in its own building.
Vancouver is the cautionary tale. The Canucks sit last in the league at 3-10-1, and Filip Hronek has gone minus-10 over his last 10 games.
Toronto visits Vancouver on Saturday, so Chayka gets a front-row look at Hronek's $7.25 million deal.
Erik Karlsson is the move Chayka should skip. An $11.5 million cap hit and a -4 rating over his last 10 games won't plug a leaky blue line.
Pairing Karlsson with Rielly is like fixing a leaking roof by buying a nicer couch. The living room looks great right up until the rain comes.
The price will sting either way. Colorado's 2027 first-round pick and prospects Tinus-Luc Koblar and Alexander Bilecki are all on the table as chips.
So where does Easton Cowan fit? The 21-year-old is making $900,000 with 13 points and two game-winners.
Moving him for a 36-year-old would be the kind of gamble Jim Hiller's bench could feel for years.
Even a top-pair upgrade won't fix everything. Sergei Bobrovsky sits at a .897 save percentage, and that's a conversation nobody in Toronto wants to start yet.
The trade deadline isn't until March. Chayka doesn't look like a man who plans to wait that long.
Should John Chayka put Easton Cowan in a package to land Roman Josi?
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