Fansided

3 destinations for William Nylander if Leafs explore trade market

By Simon Vacca

TORONTO, ON - MARCH 24: William Nylander #29 of the Toronto Maple Leafs takes part in warm up prior to playing the Detroit Red Wings at the Air Canada Centre on March 24, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MARCH 24: William Nylander #29 of the Toronto Maple Leafs takes part in warm up prior to playing the Detroit Red Wings at the Air Canada Centre on March 24, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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ANAHEIM, CA – NOVEMBER 7: Jakob Silfverberg #33 of the Anaheim Ducks celebrates his first period goal with his teammates during the game against the Calgary Flames on November 7, 2018 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA – NOVEMBER 7: Jakob Silfverberg #33 of the Anaheim Ducks celebrates his first period goal with his teammates during the game against the Calgary Flames on November 7, 2018 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images) /

2. Anaheim Ducks

For the longest time, the Anaheim Ducks were the team to approach if an NHL franchise was in the process of looking for an upgrade on its blue line. Composed of a diverse network of talent, the Ducks have since parted ways with some of the driving forces of its back end, as Shea Theodore was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights at the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft and Sami Vatanen was sent to the New Jersey Devils so that the club could obtain an offensive upgrade.

Now, the team is in a problematized position. Surrendering 36.5 shots against per game (behind only the Ottawa Senators in this concerning category), the idea that the club would somehow be willing to surrender one of its defensive pieces is laughable in the eyes of many a hockey fan.

Yet even more concerning is the troubling nature of the team’s most basic offensive statistics. The Ducks lead only the Los Angeles Kings in goals for per game, netting just 2.35 pucks on a nightly basis. As the injury bug continues to envelop the club’s forward core, the prospect of a swap geared toward strengthening the organization’s offensive depth may very well trump the need to fix its back end — especially in light of the fact that goaltender John Gibson continues to play at a Vezina-caliber level.

Upon being swept from the 2017-18 Stanley Cup playoffs, GM Bob Murray addressed the team’s offensive struggles, noting that, “We have a couple of guys, let’s face it, [who] were never great skaters…How do we improve that? We know we’ve got to make some changes.” If the Ducks are serious about remaining in contention for the Stanley Cup playoffs, its offensive struggles must be fixed. Anything shy of a dynamic-altering upgrade would be nothing short of disastrous — as such, expect Nylander to lie at the forefront of Anaheim’s interests.

After all, now is the time for Murray to make a move — even if it means surrendering one of Brandon Montour or Josh Manson.

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