Minnesota Wild: Josh Leivo Could Be The Ideal Target

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a team full of youthful talent; the Minnesota Wild would be wise to make a call about Josh Leivo, who seems to be expendable.

The Minnesota Wild are loaded with some pretty ugly-looking contracts; something that has been said for a while. They need to look for some younger, cheaper assets. Josh Leivo of the Toronto Maple Leafs could be just that.

In Josh Leivo, you have a reasonably sized player who likes to shoot a lot and crash the net. He has made only 51 appearances in a Maple Leafs jersey despite being with the team almost five seasons.

The limited ice time he sees isn’t necessarily because he doesn’t perform to a high enough standard. Over at Editor In Leaf, they pro-rated his totals across a whole season and it’s clear he could be a decent performer if given a chance.

"If however, you look at Leivo’s rate stats, which are by far the better way to evaluate a player who doesn’t play that much, you see that he scored at a rate of 1.77 pts/60 which are good second line totals if he can maintain them.  With a short sample size you never know, but Leivo’s shot creation strongly suggests that he’d thrive if given more ice time. (Editor In Leaf)"

This is exactly the sort of player that Alex Tuch turned into when the Minnesota Wild let him go. All because he suddenly found himself getting top-nine ice time with the Vegas Golden Knights.

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The thing with Josh Leivo is that he just wants to play. Last season, per Sportsnet, he put in a request to either be slotted into the line-up or be traded.

At twenty-five years old, he doesn’t represent the youngest asset but he represents very good potential for a value deal. He is currently signed to a one-year contract for less than a million, which would fit perfectly in terms of the cap space the Minnesota Wild currently has.

Chances are if he were to move, he’d have an almighty chip on his shoulder as he looks to prove the guys in Toronto were wrong not to give him a shot.

When you look at the depth in the Toronto system, you might not even have to give away much in terms of assets. Leivo is easily replaced internally, so you’d think a draft pick, a middling AHL veteran or a reasonable young asset may seal the deal.

I could see Leivo easily sliding into the top-nine with the Minnesota Wild; I’m not certain who he would pair best with though. You’d think he may be useful with more defensively stable line-mates but then again, we don’t really know a great deal about the player in general – he’s spent that much time in the press box!

Paul Fenton would be wise to make a call to the Toronto Maple Leafs and see whether there’s a chance of bringing Leivo in. Why not?!