The Fourth Period: David Pagnotta on what the Toronto Maple Leafs could thinking they need to add before the trade deadline, and contract talks with the Matthew Knies.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Kate Pettersen: “Other end of the spectrum. You’ve got the Leafs. They’re sitting pretty on top of the Atlantic Division. They got Austin Matthews back, and he hasn’t missed a beat. They’re going to get a few more players back from injury. It seems like they’re trending in the right direction.
So what do you think they’re looking at? Are they looking at adding some depth, keeping their eye on the trade market? And then is there anything internally that they need to be looking at right now, at this point in the season, when they’re thinking a couple months down the road?
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Pagnotta: “Yeah. Well, firstly, Kate, with respect to the current roster and how it’s formed, they are looking and kind of poking around the center market.
Now, with Fraser Minton coming in the last few games, he’s done really well. He scored a goal Monday night. He’s he’s fit really nicely. And Craig Berube, their head coach, said after the game that it’s, he’s a smart player, a veteran player that’s just in a young body. So they like what they see there. And if he continues his pace of play, that might eliminate any need to bring in a center in their bottom six. They may have found that internally, which shifts their focus to the second line.
I think a second-line center is what they would like to add to this group in a perfect world. They don’t necessarily have the significant assets they’re willing to move to do it. They don’t have a first-round pick this year. They have a first-round pick next year. Will they look to potentially part with that? We’ll have to wait and see. I don’t think anything is imminent on that front, but the 2C position is an area that I think Toronto will focus on trying to improve later on in the season.
The other thing, and I mentioned this on and had discussed this with Nick Alberga on Leafs Morning Take earlier, they have re-engaged and resumed contract discussions with Matthew Knies and his side of things, or his side, excuse me.
They’d like long term. It sounds like Knies’s camp is looking a little shorter. Not necessarily a two-year bridge, but maybe three, four years. But again, the Leafs want to go full stride, so we’ll see where that goes if that develops.
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You know, one of the things for Toronto right now, he’s controllable. They don’t have to rush into a deal. I wouldn’t be surprised if this gets carried on to the offseason, but they’ve at least resumed talks in hopes of maybe seeing if they can get something done sooner than later.”
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