Maple Leafs Could Flip Newly Acquired Defenseman To Islanders

The New York Islanders are in need of defensive help right now with Adam Pelech expected to be out for over a month. The team is struggling and the options on defense aren't the greatest. There isn't a lot of cap space for the team to bring in bigger names, but the Toronto Maple Leafs could help with the unfortunate situation the Islanders are in right now.

Toronto just recently shipped off Timothy Liljegren to the San Jose Sharks due to lack of ice time and to free up a little cap space. Matt Benning was acquired as part of the return, but the Maple Leafs have let teams know that they are willing to flip Benning in a trade.

There are other names being thrown out around the league for the Islanders to go after, but for the most part, not many teams are thinking about trading NHL players yet this season. It is still fairly early.

The Islanders can't be taken out of the playoff race this early if the team can't figure things out in the midst of dealing with injuries.

Benning is an NHL defenseman and would give the Islanders a right-shot option. The 30-year-old has 464 games of experience in the NHL and has logged over 19 minutes per game over the past three seasons with the Sharks. His cap hit also happens to just be $1.25 million AAV for this year and next.

In 2022-23, Benning had a career high 77 games played, 24 points, and 125 blocked shots. He also contributed 122 hits as well. He is a solid defenseman that can surely fill into a role on the Islanders for the time being while they are hurting. A smaller trade like this one wouldn't hurt them. The cost will not be very high to acquire him, especially if they show interest now with the number of defensemen the Maple Leafs have.