Friedman indicates Jimmy Vesey a major factor in Leafs' trade for Galchenyuk

The Toronto Maple Leafs surprised a lot of people Sunday when they traded for well-travelled forward Alex Galchenyuk. Since leaving the Montreal Canadiens in 2018, Galchenyuk has been on a steady decline and has been passed around from team-to-team, spending time in Arizona, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Ottawa, Carolina (he actually didn't even travel there, he was just property of the team for around 48 hours) and now finally landing in Toronto. So why would the Leafs make a trade for him? Elliotte Friedman believes it has a lot to do with Toronto forward Jimmy Vesey.

"The Alex Galchenyuk trade is a sign the Jimmy Vesey experiment is in trouble," said Friedman in his latest edition of 31 Thoughts. "Both players have salaries that can be stashed on the taxi squad/in the AHL, if necessary. It also drops the Maple Leafs from 47 contracts to 46 (maximum 50). Flexibility is never negative."

Vesey was signed to a one-year deal worth $900,000 as an unrestricted free agent by Toronto during the latest offseason. He was a restricted free agent until the New York Rangers decided not to make him a qualifying offer, and perhaps that was the right call. In 16 games with the Leafs this season, Vesey has just one goal and two assists, and is a minus-2. Both his offensive and defensive play have been called into question during that time. He started on a line with John Tavares and William Nylander, was moved to the Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner line, and then dropped to the third line where he's been playing with a few different combinations since. None of them appears to be working.

Should the Leafs decide to pull Vesey from the lineup, it looks like the plan is to replace him with Galchenyuk. Not the best option, but an option nonetheless. Galchenyuk has played eight games so far in 2020-21, recording one goal. Perhaps he can turn it around a provide a better option than Vesey, but I wouldn't bet on it. Either way, it appears Vesey was a big reason the Leafs decided to bring Galchenyuk to Toronto.

Source: 31 Thoughts

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