The 2024 NHL Trade Deadline is only a day away now, and things have been hectic. We have seen tons of trades over the past week, with a lot of big-name players coming off of the Hockey Writers Trade Bait Board. This means that the Toronto Maple Leafs need to get their ducks in a row and look at who is available to help improve their club before it is too late.
One team that comes to mind as a potential trade partner for the Maple Leafs is the Washington Capitals. They had a down year this season and found themselves out of the playoff picture. As a result, they may want to look at a few of their players and move out some money to do a small retool in hopes of having a bounce-back year in 2024-25. There are a few names on the Capitals roster that may be of interest to the Maple Leafs. If you look at what their team needs, it would be a right-handed shot and potentially a depth forward. So, let’s look at a few options for the Maple Leafs to take a look at from the Capitals.
Dowd isn’t the most offensive forward, but he can score you 20 points per season. This season, he has eight goals and eight assists for 16 points in 45 games. The reason you get a player like Dowd is for his defensive abilities. He has an 89.8% defensive zone start percentage (dZS%), which means that 89.8% of his zone starts are in the defensive zone. This includes all types of situations but is predominantly influenced by his PK skills. Unfortunately, he has been placed on the injured reserve list due to an injury, but it shouldn’t stop him from being moved before the deadline.
