Five NHL Defensemen The Maple Leafs Could Target In A Trade With Chris Tanev Injured

In the early goings of this 2026-27 NHL regular season, the Toronto Maple Leafs have shown that they are a strong offensive team that is never truly out of any game, no matter the deficit. They completed a comeback from 3-0 against the Nashville Predators, winning in overtime, and nearly came close to achieving something similar against the Utah Mammoth on Tuesday.

But one area that isn't up to code for a team that wants to be competitive beyond making the post-season is their defence. On paper, it's a fairly average D-corps when healthy. But now that Chris Tanev is injured and has had health issues in the past, it's hard to rely on what they currently carry on the back end.

TSN's Chris Johnston reported that Toronto will find solutions internally for now, but there's no question they'll consider upgrades in the future.

The Maple Leafs don't have many valuable assets left in the system that could bring back a hefty package. However, GM John Chayka may not be interested in giving up Easton Cowan, Ben Danford or Gavin McKenna, and neither should he.

But there are some mid-tier prospects, as well as second-round picks for the next three drafts, a conditional first-rounder for 2027 from the Colorado Avalanche, and their 2029 first-round pick.

Therefore, Toronto won't be blowing anyone out of the water with a top-pairing defenseman. But a bottom-four defenseman capable of a second-pairing role is certainly possible.

With that, here are five NHL defensemen that the Maple Leafs could consider down the road to improve their blueline.

Brenden Dillon is a defenseman who would cost very little for the Maple Leafs to acquire. He's 35 years old, which isn't ideal given how old Toronto's defense already is. But he's had a long NHL career and is serviceable based on his experience.

Dillon is a physical D-man who constantly sticks up for his teammates and lives to kill penalties and block shots. 

Over the last two seasons, the veteran accumulated 393 hits, which ranked fifth in the NHL among defensemen. He was also heavily relied on by the New Jersey Devils in that span while shorthanded. Jonathan Kovacevic ranks second on the team in shorthanded ice time with a total of 255:50 of ice time, but Dillon dominates those numbers with 402:11 of time on the penalty kill.

He carries a $4-million salary cap hit - which may be a little high - and is in the final year of his three-year contract. But because of that, as well as only averaging 14:26 of ice time this season and being an older player, it likely wouldn't cost Toronto much more than a mid-round draft pick. Or if the Leafs give a little more, New Jersey may be obligated to add a sweetener.

Dillon isn't the most ideal candidate, which is why he's ranked at No. 5. But he's still serviceable enough to contribute to the team's defense depth.

Nick Perbix is a middle-pairing defenseman for the Predators, but on the Maple Leafs, if Tanev is healthy, he'd be a bottom-pairing D-man.

Perbix, 28, is a bit better at handling the puck compared to Troy Stecher. He's also got the size advantage (6-foot-4) over Stecher, as well as Nick Blankenburg, if those are the two defensemen that Perbix would need to get in the lineup over.

He's not a game-breaking blueliner, and probably won't show up on the scoresheet like Darren Raddysh and Morgan Rielly do, but Perbix is a serviceable defenseman on a good team, as long as his role isn't more than he can handle.

In the first three years of his NHL career, he was a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, averaging 15:45 of ice time per game and scoring two goals and 24 points in what was his highest-scoring campaign (2023-24).

Now, between this season and last year with Nashville, Perbix plays around 19:05 of ice time per game.

He costs $2.75 million against the cap in what is his final year of that two-year deal. He's another defenseman who wouldn't cost the Leafs very much in terms of assets to be dealt to the Preds, on top of still being a No. 4 or 5 on the defensive depth chart.

Carson Soucy almost didn't sign with an NHL team ahead of this season, inking a one-year, $1.15-million contract on the day the regular season kicked off. However, that doesn't mean the 32-year-old is no good or isn't an NHL defenseman.

He's played 446 games across what is now a nine-year NHL career. Soucy is a button-four D-man who is good for either the middle or bottom pair.

In the last two seasons, Soucy has been traded a few times in instances where playoff contenders wanted some reinforcement on the back end, and Toronto could execute the same idea with a player who is used to that usage. And the last two trades he was involved in saw the team that dealt him away receive a third-round pick. So it can be assumed the price would be similar, if not slightly lower, given aging and a decreasing role.

Last season, Soucy split his time between the New York Islanders and New York Rangers, playing 76 games in total and averaging 16:31 between both clubs. So far with the Columbus Blue Jackets this year, he's recorded one assist and a minus-three rating while averaging 15:47 of ice time in five appearances.

The Philadelphia Flyers are off to a horrid start in the NHL this year, and with how their season is trending, they may be sellers in just a few months. If that's the case, one of the prime trade candidates coming from the Flyers would be 31-year-old defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen.

It should be noted that Ristolainen has seemingly been trade bait for Philadelphia over the last few years, which may not be a good sign. But the fact is, Ristolainen is capable of playing 20 minutes a night, and did so last season (21:23 per game). The Finnish D-man has also provided some scoring in the past, notching four straight 40-point campaigns from 2015-16 to 2018-19.

Ristolainen would be more of a conservative option in the sense that he'd be a regular in the Leafs' lineup if he ended up there. The only recurring issue with him is that he has a history of injuries, featuring in 44 games last year, and is on IR after the first three games of this season with an upper-body injury. 

So far, he's scored one goal and averages 18:17 per game. And even though he hasn't played much, he has an even plus-minus rating, which is the joint best on the team. He played 17:40 of ice time in the Flyers' season opener, which was a 7-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and walked away with a minus-one.

Ristolainen carries a $5.1-million cap hit, which is a little pricey. But if Flyers GM Danny Briere is willing to play ball, he could retain some of that salary, as Ristolainen is in the final year of his contract and Philadelphia have two more available retention spots.

Zach Whitecloud would be the most ideal candidate for the Maple Leafs in terms of upgrading their defense.

First, Whitecloud has experience playing for a highly competitive team. He was a member of the Vegas Golden Knights for parts of eight seasons and won the Stanley Cup with the team in 2023, playing an important role.

The 29-year-old has played 405 NHL regular-season games so far in his career, and averages 18:09 of ice time through it all. At the very least, Whitecloud can play the middle and bottom pairs for Toronto if acquired.

In fact, since joining the Calgary Flames in January, the undrafted defenseman has averaged 22:22 of ice time. He's also the go-to guy for the penalty kill, averaging 3:04 of ice time while shorthanded in Calgary. He was also a key penalty killer for Vegas, on a team that had Alex Pietrangelo, Noah Hanifin, Brayden McNabb and more.

There's no denying he'd be a huge help to any back end that he gets added to, wherever he goes, if the struggling Flames decide to move on from him later this year.

With that, he is the most expensive trade target on this list in terms of what the team will ask for in a deal. Being in his prime years, having championship experience, and the low price of $2.75 million against the salary cap are all factors in that.

However, he isn't much of an offensive threat, and isn't a blueliner who plays in all situations, so it shouldn't be a back-breaking ask from Calgary if they made Whitecloud available.

See more of The Hockey News on Google — Save us as Preferred Source

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.