Auston Matthews continues to deal with a lingering upper-body injury. Would it be best for the team and player to rest in February during the 4 Nations Face-Off? If there's anything the Toronto Maple Leafs need ahead of the NHL Trade Deadline in March, it's center depth. Toronto's one-two punch of Auston Matthews and John Tavares has worked well over the years, however, the organization hasn't found a dedicated fit for their third-line center spot. Fraser Minten got some time in the spot — and had success early, scoring four points in his first five games this season — before returning to the Toronto Marlies. There have also been points where Max Domi has filled in, yet we haven't seen it that much under new head coach Craig Berube. In their 5-2 loss to the Winnipeg Jets, the Maple Leafs had David Kampf and Pontus Holmberg as their bottom-six centermen. And while that's a fine backstop, Toronto likely won't want to enter the playoffs with them as the last two down the middle. The trade deadline is still three months away, however, The Athletic's Chris Johnston and Pierre LeBrun [https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6015276/2024/12/26/nhl-trade-board-matchmaker-provorov-gibson/] recently put together their predictions for where the NHL's top trade targets might end up by the deadline. LeBrun has Seattle Kraken's Yanni Gourde pegged to wind up with the Maple Leafs by the March 7 deadline. "It remains to be seen whether the Kraken will actually make Gourde available ahead of the deadline. You may remember a year ago at this time, Jordan Eberle’s name was bandied about quite a bit because he was a pending unrestricted free agent and the Kraken weren’t playoff-bound. But instead of moving him, the Kraken signed Eberle to a contract extension to remove him from the trade market. Seattle now needs to make a decision on Gourde, and as of writing this, there haven’t been any contract discussions," LeBrun reports. "If indeed Gourde is moved, my matchmaking crystal ball has him landing with Toronto because he fits the criteria of what the Leafs need as far as a third-line center upgrade. He won two Stanley Cup championships with the (Tampa Bay) Lightning and plays the kind of game that translates come playoff time. He’s got a modified no-trade, but my understanding is he would have no issue with a move to the Leafs. And he’s the kind of player general manager Brad Treliving appreciates — not shying away from the rough-and-tumble hockey played in playoffs." Gourde has five goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 32 games with the Kraken this season. He's averaging 15:28 under Seattle coach Dan Bylsma, placing him sixth among forwards for ice time on the Maple Leafs. His five goals would tie him for seventh in team goal-scoring, alongside Max Pacioretty and Nick Robertson. The benefit of having Gourde on your team is his Stanley Cup pedigree. Toronto's big question is how they'll accommodate Gourde's $5,166,667 cap hit to the team at the trade deadline. Seattle has the room to retain some money, but there'll be a cost that comes along with doing that. The 33-year-old has 20 goals and 22 assists in 83 playoff games split between the Lightning and Kraken. Gourde is set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjExNjM5NDEwNTc4NDM0MDI0/googlenews.svg] Stay updated with the most interesting Maple Leafs stories, analysis, breaking news and more! Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News [https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMK-q0gsw7sXpAw/sections/CAQqEAgAKgcICjCvqtILMO7F6QMwytvfCA?ceid=CA:en&oc=3] to never miss a story.
