Winnipeg Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba remains unsigned after requesting a trade from the organization and it appears teams are lining up to acquire the talented 22-year-old’s services.
[link_box id=”22277″ site_id=”17″ layout=”link-box-third” alignment=”alignright”]Darren Dreger of TSN.ca reports Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Lou Lamoriello has “kicked the tires” on acquiring Trouba, but the asking price from Winnipeg was too costly.
https://twitter.com/NicholsOnHockey/status/786698065751048192
It’s no surprise the Leafs are interested in Trouba’s services. Toronto is stocked with talented young forwards and could use some additional talented youngsters on their d-core. Adding Trouba to a group which includes Morgan Rielly, Nikita Zaitsev, Jake Gardiner and Connor Carrick would be a huge coup for Toronto. But, it would come at a high cost.
I can’t imagine the Jets would deal Trouba, a talented, controllable, two-way defenseman, without getting one of the Leafs A prospects in return. While Auston Matthews is out of the question in a trade, William Nylander or Mitch Marner would probably need to come back to facilitate a deal. The Leafs likely view the ask as too much. Perhaps, if Toronto throws 2017’s first-round pick and a few B prospects or roster players, a deal could be done.
The main takeaway from the proposed trade talks is the Jets aren’t in a hurry to deal Trouba. They know they have a talented defenseman and won’t sell him for 60 cents to the dollar. The Leafs have the assets to acquire him, but it remains to be seen whether they’ll actually deal them.
