The Toronto Maple Leafs had arguably one of the busiest and most impactful trade deadlines this year -- acquiring Ryan O'Reilly, Noel Acciari, Luke Schenn, Erik Gustavsson, Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty -- but general manager Kyle Dubas reportedly considered adding even more.
Speaking on the 32 Thoughts segment of Hockey Night in Canada, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported that the Maple Leafs made inquiries about Mattias Ekholm and Erik Karlsson to shore up their blueline.
"The Maple Leafs did inquire on both players, did think about both players, but I just don't think the math was possible at all," Friedman said. "Toronto did what it did, pretty happy with that, but they did look and consider those other options. It just didn't make cap sense."
Friedman noted that the main hinderance was salary retention, believing that the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators were not willing to retain enough salary on Karlsson and Ekholm, respectively.
Ekholm was eventually traded to the Edmonton Oilers for a package that sent Tyson Barrie to Nashville, while Karlsson remains in San Jose for the time being.
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