Analyst links Maple Leafs to young former top-10 pick from the Pacific division

This season has been a major struggle for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and with their loss of talented players combined with injuries, this just isn't the team we've become accustomed too in recent years.

Perhaps their biggest issue has now been exposed, and that is the lack of a talented puck-moving defenseman, with the team once again struggling to generate much offense from their blue line.

Now, they may have found their answer, as The Hockey Writers have linked the team to talented young Anaheim Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov, who has seemingly requested a trade from the team after struggling to find consistent playing time on this red-hot Ducks team.

That player is of course Pavel Mintyukov, a player that would arrive in Toronto and automatically be their best puck-moving defenseman, and at the age of 22, he's the exact type of player that could spark this team now and into the future.

In 150 NHL games played thus far, Mintyukov has tallied 9 goals and 50 points, and while the production is yet to correlate to the talent, it's clear that he's exactly what the Maple Leafs need.

Now, Mintyukov wouldn't come cheap, and Toronto would likely need to give up a significant asset to land him, but if they want to improve now and give themselves a building block for the future on the blue line, this move is a no-brainer from Toronto's perspective.