What the Maple Leafs get in trade for Dryden Hunt

Hours before the NHL's trade freeze kicks in Monday night (it lifts again in eight days), the Toronto Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche came together for a trade.

It's not the blockbuster we're all craving, but it's an interesting bottom-six shake up for the Leafs, and brings the Avs a potential (very potential) scoring bump in the bottom-six, and someone who may be able to help as the team navigates through some injuries.

So who exactly are the two players traded, and what are the Leafs adding in the deal? Let's take a closer look with some help from scout Jason Bukala of The Pro Hockey Group and Sportsnet's own Sam Cosentino.

TO TORONTO: DRYDEN HUNT

A 27-year-old left winger, Hunt has played 193 career NHL games, with his best season being 2021-22 with the New York Rangers when he scored six goals and 17 points in 76 games. At the AHL level, though, he's approached point-per-game numbers before.

Hunt was placed on waivers in October, and claimed by Colorado. He has one goal in 25 games with the Avalanche this season and a contract worth $762,500 against the cap that expires at the end of the season.

"I'm not the general manager so I don't make those decisions," Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said Monday. "From what I know of the player he's just a different type of player and just trying to change up the depth of our team a little bit.

"Guy plays hard. Pretty simple game. Physical and competitive. I think not a lot's happened for him offensively in the NHL, but he has scored and been a good player at the AHL level and protects the puck well and all those sorts of things."

Hunt isn't a game-changer on this Leafs roster, but he is a physical and "more traditional" option for a bottom-line role. Or, he may wind up on waivers again and possibly en route to the Marlies in the coming weeks.

From Jason Bukala: "We signed Hunt out of junior as a free agent when I was in Florida. To be honest, he was a darling of our analytics department at the time and they forecasted him to be an NHL scorer.

What Hunt provides now is a fourth-line/13th-forward role as a worker. He’s a character player who has never established himself as a consistent threat offensively, but he improved his skating over time and he empties the tank when his number is called.

Look for him to add some physical involvement to the Leafs roster. Not punishing, but enough to keep opponents on their toes. He can also penalty kill if required.

Hunt is a character person. A good teammate. Right now I see him pushing Zach Aston-Reese aside in the short term."

TO COLORADO: DENIS MALGIN

Some of Malgin's underlying numbers in Toronto were good: a 53.01 expected goals-for percentage, a 54.85 shots-for percentage, and a 57.02 scoring chances-for percentage at 5-on-5. But in 23 games, Malgin managed just two goals and four points. That includes getting a sprinkle of a chance with John Tavares and Mitch Marner.

For a player who was returning to North America from two years in Europe to hopefully add some skill and scoring upside to Toronto's bottom-six, while blossoming himself as an NHLer, the production just hasn't been there. Malgin blended in to the rest of the depth group and wasn't really a fit for the AHL roster either.

Malgin was acquired by Toronto from Florida in February of 2020 for Mason Marchment, who went on to score 18 goals for the Panthers last season and has nine in 32 for the Dallas Stars in 2022-23.

The Avalanche, meantime, will see if Malgin can find some of the hoped-for offensive upside Toronto was after as he fits into a lineup without stars Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. Malgin will not directly fill their holes or roles, obviously, but seems a better fit for their needs right now than Hunt was.

“He’s very creative, he creates goal-scoring opportunities and goals from absolutely nothing sometimes by his own doing,” Rikard Gronborg, Malgin's coach with Zurich SC last season, told The Athletic earlier this season.

From Sam Cosentino: "Over the course of their 15-game point streak, the Toronto Maple Leafs accomplished a number of objectives. None more important than establishing the bottom six forwards. 

Pontus Holmberg has proven to be a safe and reliable forward who can chip in with some offence. Most importantly is his contract at under $850,000. Pierre Engvall’s emergence has also helped settle the bottom six, along with the speed of Zach Aston-Reese. Both David Kampf and Alex Kerfoot are well within worthy range of their salaries, and all of them have produced equal-to or more than Malgin’s four points over 23 games played.

The salaries are a wash, but Hunt provides a little more of what the bottom six is missing with his grit. He’s a hard player to play against, and can fight if needed. Malgin is neither of those, and if his skill doesn’t lead the bottom six, Toronto is better off having Hunt’s style of play as opposed to Malgin’s for roughly the same money and the same production."