Trade news: Calgary Flames target talented Toronto Maple Leafs star.
Despite reports that Nikita Zadorov wants to remain a member of the Calgary Flames, he has officially submitted a trade request and it appears that several teams are interested in acquiring him for the remainder of the 2023-2024 season.
Trade candidates include the Maple Leafs, Canucks and Devils, all of whom are expected to have big players, but no team is a better fit as a trade partner than Toronto.
The Flames could be targeting a talented young prospect.
Nothing has officially linked the two sides yet, but a connection doesn’t seem to be suspected, and now Sportsnet’s Eric Francis has suggested a possible name Calgary could agree on.
Francis said Matt Coronato’s former Harvard teammate Nick Abruzzese is a player he could target and, despite being 24, could be a solid bottom-six option as the Flames would could rebuild.
As the hockey world tries to put together the various pieces that could make the Leafs’ trade for the Flames defenseman possible, consider that Toronto farmhand Nick Abbruzzese was Matt Coronato’s prep man at Harvard two seasons ago.
The Leafs fourth round pick as an AHL player.
Abruzzese was a fourth-round pick of the Maple Leafs in 2019.
During two years at Harvard, he appeared in 59 games, scoring 77 points (23 goals, 54 assists) and continued his performance stellar in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies.
, recording 59 points (19 goals, 40 assists) in 81 games.
He could be the secret acquisition that makes the Flames valuable.
This center, who won’t be on the Leafs NHL roster anytime soon, is one Toronto fans can’t miss.
How well can Abruzzo do?
Most Flames fans would like to see Frazier Minten, Nick Robertson or Easton Cowan return on a deal with the Leafs, but those names might be too much to trade for Zadorov.
If the Flames can find a young, NHL-ready center with chemistry as a key element going forward, that would be a huge win for Craig Conroy.
Nick Abruzzese (#26) hit 3 straight with three assists on Saturday.
He has eight points in his last four games.
There’s nothing stopping Toronto from trading, as the Flames could match John Klingberg’s salary and see him return, but if the team wants to rebuild for the future, Abruzzi is a no-brainer.
may be.
Bottom six center who has a very solid NHL career.
Finally, the Maple Leafs need a lot of help on the blue line, so combining Zadorov and Chris Tanev in a potential deal could further increase Calgary’s upside, but would only sign a 6-foot-4 defenseman and 248 pounds.
.
There could be revenue to allow Calgary to continue large-scale redevelopment.
