With the trade deadline less than a week away, I see a lot of buzz over who Zito and crew should go after to put the Panthers are Cup favorites.
Do they push for Giroux? Giordano? Klingberg? Chychrun?
How about this, none of the above.
I have long been on the Giordano train and even went as far to hop on the Giroux idea; however, I am going to throw this one out to you loyal readers.
Scotty Fucking Mayfield.
The Islanders went from back-to-back trips to the Eastern Conference Finals to being trade deadline sellers. And an area they seem to have a plethora of talent is on the backside.
Who better to get than this big bodied, mean son of a bitch to man our blue line?
Sitting at 6’4” and 220lbs, he is a very solid stay-at-home physical defenseman. While he may not be on Sports Center’s Top 10, he will provide a consistent defensive game that the Panthers need.
With the points Ekblad is putting up, the Cats do not need another offensive minded defender. They need someone who will strike fear in to the hearts of anyone who dare take a liberty with a teammate.
Brock Nelson was quoted saying “[Scotty] flies under the radar. He works hard every day, sticks up for everybody on the team. Tough defender, blocks a lot of shots…”
That is something the Cats backend is lacking. While Lomberg isn’t afraid to muck it up, do you think Tom Wilson would be shitting his pants to fight Lomberg or Mayfield?
Do you think Perry would “fall” in to Bobrovsky if Mayfield is on the ice?
Of course, Mayfield and Barky probably need to kiss and make up after their run in earlier this season; however, he is the type of player you would rather play with than against.
Does anyone remember what he did to a certain cross state rival last year? He may or may not have given Kucherov a little love tap that kept him in a Kevlar vest for the rest of the playoffs.
On top of that, his AAV is only $1.45 million keeping him well below the Cats salary cap and the Panthers would be able to hang on to him for more than just this playoff run as he has one year left on his current contract.
While Petteri Lindbohm definitely showed size and physicality, ask Laughton about his hip check skills or Konecny about his fighting abilities, there is no such thing as too much physicality, size, or grit when the playoffs come around.
For those who missed Lindbohm’s welcome to the Panthers shift:
According to The Athletic, it does not sound like the Islanders would be asking an astronomical price for Mayfield as sources say it would probably be “a first-round pick and a player who could play right away”. It is clear that the Islanders need either a left-handed defenseman they could pair with Dobson or a scoring winger to help out on the offense.
While the Panthers do not have a first-rounder this year, they have plenty of scoring talent in the pipeline.
Owen Tippett just won AHL player of the week with 4 goals and 4 assists in 4 games with the Checkers. Mix in Lucas Carlsson, a young left shot defenseman, and you might have the perfect package to capture Lou’s attention.
What do you think Panthers fans? I think it would be a heck of a way to add that sandpaper finish and stay-at-home d-man that the Panthers need in a very reasonable deal.
As always, in Zito we trust!
The Morning Skate 