Maple Leafs & Sabres Might Need Big Trade To Help Season

The Toronto Maple Leafs have greatly underperformed based on expectations and aren't in a good place. They are constantly in rumors looking to trade some of their depth forwards, but nothing continues to happen. They have players on down years and a GM that many fans don't believe in after most of the moves haven't turned out good. While smaller pieces are thought of as the easier play to move, the Maple Leafs may have to go bigger.

There is a trade partner that has emerged within their division in the Buffalo Sabres. After Kevyn Adams was fired as the GM, Jarmo Kekalainen took over and is someone known to swing for the fences to get better. With Rasmus Dahlin in Buffalo, the path to moving on from one of Bowen Byram or Owen Power is becoming more clear.

Chris Johnston said, "I think (Kekalainen) is going to swing for the fences. He's not going to just think status quo's good enough. He's trying to get the team in the playoffs now."

The Maple Leafs don't have the cap space to bring in big-money players, so they will have to move off one or two players in a deal with the Sabres, or elsewhere prior. It's unlikely the Sabres want some of the junk that Toronto is trying to clear out, especially if they're on the hunt for the playoffs. But that shouldn't completely stop the two teams from making a deal.

It won't be cheap for the Maple Leafs, but the Sabres could make Byram or Power available to them. David Pagnotta said, "(The Maple Leafs) are looking for that puck mover on the back-end."

Both Byram and Power are offensive players, even though it hasn't completely shined through for Power yet. He is in much more need of a change in scenery, and is young enough to have plenty of more time to get where he once projected to be. The Maple Leafs can't keep making trades for defensive-minded d-men like Jake McCabe and Chris Tanev, they have to finally get more help to help the forwards too.

Why this move would be beneficial for the Sabres is the assets they would get back from moving one of their better defensemen, but also the cap space and assets they can use to flip and bring in the player that will change their season and beyond. With so many high draft picks over the years, eventually some are going to be moved, so it makes sense that the time is now.