NHL Trade Rumors: 5 players Maple Leafs should target

3. Ryan McDonagh

Sitting just six points out of the second wild-card spot, the playoffs are still very much within reach for the New York Rangers. But all indications are that they’ll be sellers at the trade deadline with captain Ryan McDonagh being among the frontrunners to be dealt.

It’s no secret that defense has been the Leafs’ biggest Achilles heel this season. They rank second in shots against, giving up 34.2 per game. Just recently, they gave up at least 40 shots to the Nashville Predators, Columbus Blue Jackets and Florida Panthers. They won all of those games because Frederik Andersen has been superhuman, but it’s a highly unsustainable method of winning games, especially come playoff time.

How will McDonagh address this issue? He can log heavy minutes — he averages 24 a night — and take the pressure off of guys that have struggled in their own zone, such as Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev. He’s also a great puck-moving defenseman, and would help the Leafs’ issue of getting hemmed in their own zone. And he’s a true difference-maker on the blue line, something this Leafs team lacks outside of Morgan Rielly.

That being said, it’s hard to see how he would fit into the lineup. Babcock likes playing defensemen on their strong side, and as things stand, there are more left-handed defensemen in the lineup than there are right-handed. McDonagh is a lefty, which complicates things further.

There are pros and cons to a McDonagh deal, and he won’t come cheap for the Leafs. But they have a pool of free agents that they can sell in return. Plus, the fact that Tampa Bay and Boston have expressed interest in the Rangers captain should be reason enough for the Leafs to try and poach him.