Why wouldn’t the Toronto Maple Leafs consider trading down if they don’t view Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg way above the defensemen?
The Leafs Nation: Ray Ferraro on why wouldn’t the Toronto Maple Leafs trade down from the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 draft and acquire more assets if you don’t think Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg is the clear-cut No. 1 pick?
Jay Rosehill: “And you know, along the same lines of, you know, are they going to go a traditional way, are they going to go outside of the box? You know, some of this has been lost in the coaching shuffle, is this draft pick that they have. It’s kind of surprisingly flown under the radar. Are you hearing anything about which way the Leafs might be leaning, as far as who they’re going to take with that first overall pick?
Ferraro: “It’s crazy if you talk to half a dozen people, how many different views people have of what A) they should do with the pick, B) who they would select.
You know, all year we heard about McKenna-Stenberg, Stenberg-McKenna, but there’s a group of like three or four defensemen that are really, really good players.
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Like, if you don’t think McKenna and Stenberg are head and shoulders above everybody, and you like a defenseman almost as much, why wouldn’t you trade down? Why wouldn’t you acquire another asset, move down two or three picks if somebody’s willing to make that jump, and you pick up another asset? Like a good asset.
Like, let’s be, let in my opinion, let’s let me be clear. I don’t think the Leafs are close to, to being a contending team. I, I’m reading this stuff. Oh, they want to add a scoring winger, a top-pair defenseman. Yeah, well, I want to be 6′ 2″. Like, where are you going to, where are you going to find these guys?”
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