Trading forwards may be necessary

Yes, you can try to sign a pending free agent such Washington’s John Carlson or Detroit’s Mike Green. But the better option might be on the trade market, where Vancouver’s Chris Tanev and Calgary’s TJ Brodie could be available. Heck, if the Leafs want to make a big splash, they could put together a package for Ottawa’s Erik Karlsson or Los Angeles Kings star Drew Doughty.

Any of them would be an upgrade over what Toronto has. Of course, it could mean saying goodbye to a player such as Nylander, Connor Brown and perhaps Kasperi Kapanen.

It’s a delicate dance. Edmonton faced a similar dilemma two years ago, when they sent winger Taylor Hall to New Jersey for defenceman Adam Larsson in a trade that has since blown up in the Oilers’ face. Others have fared better.

Tampa Bay, which like Toronto had more forwards than roster spots, acquired defenceman Mikhail Sergachev from Montreal for forward Jonathan Drouin. A few years ago, Nashville traded defenceman Seth Jones to Columbus for centre Ryan Johansen in a deal that has worked out for both.

Even with James van Riemsdyk, Tyler Bozak, Leo Komarov and Plekanec heading to free agency, Toronto is overflowing with depth up front. Expect Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson to move up in the lineup, while Josh Leivo, Frederik Gauthier and Miro Aaltonen could get longer looks at roster spots.

That doesn’t mean you want to lose Nylander, who could be the team’s No. 2 centre next season and a potential top-10 scorer. But when looking at why this team failed to get out of the first round for the second year in a row, it begins and ends with their lack of topend defencemen.

Even on a night when Gardiner wasn’t playing his best hockey, he still logged 24 minutes of ice time. Only Hainsey played more. Why? Babcock had no other choice.

The Leafs don’t have a minute-munching veteran like Zdeno Chara or a potential Norris Trophy candidate in Charlie McAvoy. They don’t even have a triggerman on the point with a big booming shot like Torey Krug.

What they have is a No. 2 defenceman in Morgan Rielly, a first-round prospect in 18-year-old Timothy Liljegren, who is still probably another year or two away, and a collection of defencemen who probably would be on the third pairing on other teams.

The Leafs are hoping Nikita Zaitsev will rebound after a sophomore slump and they expect rookie Travis Dermott will be better in Year 2. But Hainsey celebrated his 37th birthday last month and Roman Polak is running on fumes and likely out the door as a free agent. So unless this team gets some major help, things probably won’t look better next season.

That might mean losing one of their core forwards. But if it makes them better defensively, it could be a case of addition by subtraction.