Maple Leafs centre Alex Kerfoot is a perfect trade target for the Canucks

Over the past few seasons, the biggest weakness on the Vancouver Canucks’ roster has arguably been their bottom-six forward group. Fortunately, it seems like they’ll finally have some adequate depth wingers next year, but the team still lacks a legitimate third-line centre.

Enter Alex Kerfoot.

The Maple Leafs centre has been at the heart of many trade rumours, which mainly involves a middle-six winger going back to Toronto in exchange. Some of the targets that the team has reportedly been eyeing include Nashville’s Mikael Granlund and Anaheim’s Rickard Rakell.

However, the problem with those deals is that the players coming from American teams will need to quarantine for a week before joining their new club, which isn’t the case when trades are made within Canada. Since the Canucks have their own trade chip in Tanner Pearson, would it make sense, then, for the two clubs to strike a deal involving both skaters?

Of course, the problem with such a trade stems from Pearson’s injury, but there seems to be some optimism that he could return before the deadline, or just after.

That being said, it’s important to remember that the players Toronto has targeted are all better than Pearson, so Vancouver might need to throw in additional assets to pry Kerfoot out of their hands. If the cost is just an extra late-round pick, I think it’s a trade worth making considering Kerfoot’s versatility and fit on the Canucks.

Still only 26 years old, he fits within Vancouver’s timeline and is capable of playing both centre and on the wing. More importantly, Kerfoot possesses a reliable two-way game that can help alleviate some of the defensive burden placed on Bo Horvat in recent years, which would help the Canucks’ captain focus more on scoring.

Kerfoot’s all-around game means that he’s able to play on the power play and penalty kill too, and he’s also capable of being a complementary top-six winger in a pinch. Offensively, he consistently produces 35-40 points every season, which would give Vancouver some much needed secondary scoring as well.

What do you think, Canucks fans? Would you be interested in trading for Alex Kerfoot? Let us know in the comments below!