Maple Leafs and Coyotes Almost Pulled Off Blockbuster Trade

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been busy making a ton of trades, loading up for the postseason. Turns out one deal they didn't make was for Arizona Coyotes forward Connor Garland. According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Leafs were in on Garland and then turned their attention to acquiring Nick Foligno from Columbus.

One player the Leafs looked at was Conor Garland in Arizona. If you look at what the Maple Leafs did, they added Foligno, who is a pending UFA. They added Riley Nash — UFA. They added Ben Hutton — UFA. They added David Rittich — UFA. All of that was important because they want to keep Zach Hyman, and they need the ultimate flexibility to do that. That is point number one.

I do think they had some pretty intense conversations about Garland. I don’t believe it was ever close, but I think they talked about it with Arizona. One of the things there that was most fascinating: Depending on how it all went, Garland didn’t have a contract next year, so you would have a back up. This is the most fascinating thing about the possibility: If Hyman leaves, you have Garland. If Hyman stays, were they thinking, “Do they take Garland for this run, and then figure it out down the road?” It is a fascinating thing, but the price would’ve been higher.

I don’t know what they were thinking. I just know they talked about it. I don’t think it was ever close. They didn’t make the move for Foligno until they knew they weren’t getting Garland. Could they have done both? I have no idea. Garland is only making $775k this year. But I think they looked at it.

It sounds like the Leafs were not willing to part with prospects Nick Robertson or Rasmus Sandin in any trade and were more open to moving a number of draft picks. The Leafs made out with a slew of new players for all parts of their lineup. Leafs Nation should be very excited with the work their general manager.