NHL Trade Rumors: 5 players Maple Leafs should target

4. Mark Letestu

During the 2016-17 season, when the Oilers were good, Mark Letestu had a defined role. He took 488 faceoffs in the defensive zone, scored 11 of his 16 goals on the powerplay, and was a wiz on the penalty kill. Edmonton’s struggles on the penalty kill this season are well documented, but that has less to do with Letestu and more to do with the fact that everything the Oilers touch these days dies.

Mark Letestu has a lot of the same qualities as Ryan. He carries a similar cap hit too, at $1.8 million. While not as good offensively as Ryan, Letestu’s faceoff percentage is hovering over 53 percent. And he would certainly boost his scoring totals once surrounded with a better supporting cast.

Toronto’s penalty kill may be ranked third in the league, but there are a select few people that Mike Babcock trusts in that role. He’s been relying heavily on the defensive trio of Ron Hainsey, Nikita Zaitsev and Roman Polak — the latter of whom is hard on the eyes — while Kapanen was called upon to kill penalties as soon as he got called up.

Not only would Letestu have a well-defined role on the fourth line, he can take some pressure off some of the special teams players, something Babcock would surely welcome.