Leafs and Blackhawks Could Become Ideal Trade Partners

The Toronto Maple Leafs window to win the Stanley Cup is starting to shrink, with recent playoff failures compounding contract drama between the Leafs and stars Auston Matthews and William Nylander.

Both Nylander and Matthews' contracts are up after next year, and thus far there has been little progress on extensions.

The Leafs have little cap flexibility, and may need to move some players to add cap space.

There is one player in particular whose name comes up most often in trade/buyout rumors.

Matt Murray

The Matt Murray experiment in Toronto just didn't work out. Former GM Kyle Dubas betted on Murray returning to his Cup-winning form he showed in Pittsburgh, but he battled injury and inconsistency all year.

In his one year in Toronto Murray posted a disappointing 3.01 goals against average and a .903 save percentage for a defensively strong Leafs team.

A trade or buyout is most likely for the injury-prone Murray, and it looks like he will be moved or put onto LTIR.

Potential fit in Chicago

If a trade is in the cards for Murray, the Chicago Blackhawks would be an ideal match.

The 'Hawks have plenty of cap space, and have a history of picking up ex-Leaf goalies to relieve Toronto Cap Space with the Petr Mrazek deal.

Chicago is unlikely to compete next year, and adding a veteran Cup winning goalie could be a positive influence on a dressing room that will se lots of losing next year.

Toronto could send a pick or a prospect to Chicago in exchange for the Hawks to take on the last year of Murray's cumbersome $4.6875 million cap hit.

Do you think this trade will happen?

As Seen on- Blackhawks Are a Prime Trade Partner for Cap-Strapped Teams