NHL trade rumors: 3 teams who should trade for Kris Letang

1. Toronto Maple Leafs

Kris Letang checks off all the boxes on the Toronto Maple Leafs checklist. He’s a right-handed defenseman who has a ton of experience playing first-pairing minutes. Letang would do very well in an up-tempo offense, even if his mobility is starting to decline. He’s proven he can carry just about any defenseman.

Morgan Rielly has rarely had a good partner next to him. Letang would change that. Or he could play with Jake Muzzin and make that the Leafs top pairing. The Maple Leafs desperately need help on the right side and Alex Pietrangelo is likely too expensive for them. At $7.25 million, Letang’s a more reasonable option. Pietrangelo’s likely getting at least $1 million per year more than that.

Now, let’s discuss the pink elephant in the room – cap space. The Leafs would have to get a little creative to afford Letang. A simple move could be trading William Nylander for Letang, but that would be done for the Leafs because Nylander’s great.

They’d probably have to move Andersen and maybe even Andreas Johnsson to afford Letang and the guys who will replace Andersen and Johnsson. But if the Leafs want to get a real top pairing defenseman, Letang would be a lot cheaper than someone like Pietrangelo.