Leafs kicking tires more and more on Nick Foligno ahead of trade deadline

Kyle Dubas on a mission.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Leafs kicking tires more and more on Nick Foligno ahead of trade deadline
Zuma Press

Earlier this month, Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons reported that the Toronto Maple Leafs have been sniffing around Columbus Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno in GM Kyle Dubas’ efforts to build a Stanley Cup contender.

It now sounds like the sniffing has gotten more intense. Pierre LeBrun revealed on Thursday night’s edition of Insider Trading on TSN that while the Columbus Blue Jackets are hoping not to be sellers at the trade deadline, teams are getting more interested in Foligno, and that includes the Maple Leafs. 

“The Blue Jackets are right there with the Stars in the Central Division standings and are trying to reel in the Chicago Blackhawks. And that’s where the Blue Jackets’ focus is right now. They’re have been teams, I’m told, that have kicked the tires on Nick Foligno, who would be a real prime target as a pending UFA and is a physical player and the leader of the Blue Jackets. He’s just the kind of guy you would want to add to your top six come playoff time. But for now the message, I’m told, is the Blue Jackets want to make a run here. They want to try and get on a run over the course of the next couple of weeks. They have four games coming up with the Carolina Hurricanes, which could be pretty pivotal on this end. Foligno has a 10-team no trade list, so he’s part of this discussion but Columbus hopes it’s not a discussion about him staying on board and they make the playoffs. The New York Islanders and Toronto Maple Leafs are teams to watch in regards to Foligno.”

Given the this season’s division alignment and the absolute tear that the Leafs have been on, you can’t blame Dubas for wanting to really put his team over the top this season. Foligno, whose $5.5 million contract expires this upcoming offseason, has 12 points in 31 games this season. He’d be relied on to add some veteran leadership, physicality and defensive responsibility to the team’s third line center position. 

When Simmons talked about the idea of acquiring Foligno, he revealed that the cost for the Jackets’ captain could be high as the Leafs “would have to move other assets and money, certainly Alex Kerfoot for example, maybe of the the young defensemen Rasmus Sandin or Timothy Liljegren, maybe the young sniper Nick Robertson, maybe an early-round draft pick.”

But add him to this group and you’ve got a veteran leadership group consisting of Foligno, John Tavares, Jason Spezza and Joe Thornton… all former NHL captains. Pretty impressive.

Source: TSN