Ever since the 2018 NHL draft Colton Parayko has been rumored to be involved in trade talks and those talks continue today. The team that is mentioned the most linked to the rumors has been the Toronto Maple Leafs, but would it make sense?
The Leafs make the most sense when it comes to trading defensemen they have Morgan Reilly as the number one but after that it starts to run thin. Jake Gardiner is a very solid part of that D-core but he is 30 years old with only one more year on his contract.
I Find it hard to believe the rumors that are going around about Parayko. He is a young defensemen Who has a very cap friendly contract making 5.5 million dollars and is still under contract for the next three years after this season.
Photo courtesy of Fox Sports
Let’s not forget that Doug Armstrong does have history with trading young defensemen. Let’s not forget the Erik Johnson trade that sent him to the Avalanche in 2011.
This goes back to my question, would the Blues really trade a good young player who is apart of the core. Let’s look at potential players you would ask for. The very first player I am asking for would be William Nylander. He is a very good young forward who just scored over 20 goals and had over 60 points last season and could fit very well with O’Reilly and Tarasenko. Also Nylander is still looking for a long term deal from the Leafs but will have a lot of money tied up between Austin Matthews and John Tavares.
If the leafs say no to that deal then I think I would then ask for a Kasperi Kapanen, he is another young skilled forward that could make the roster for the Leafs this year. Parayko would have to get a little more than just a young forward who hasn’t proven anything in the NHL yet. I think it would also take a couple picks, maybe a 1st round pick in 2019 and a 2nd round pick in 2020.
The best option the Blues have is to keep Parayko. He will soon be your number 2 defenseman as soon as Jay Boumeester’s contract is up (next year) this will give the Blues a very good top 4 with Pietrangelo, Parayko, Edmundson, and Dunn. So why? Why trade a big part of the future core for something you don’t need? This goes back to the old saying “offense wins games defense wins championships”!
