The Toronto Maple Leafs shocked the NHL world when they made the announcement that longtime New Jersey Devils GM/executive/coach Lou Lamoriello would be joining the new-look Toronto franchise as their next general manager. It was a move made all the more shocking because it came only hours after the Devils announced that Lamoriello was stepping down after two-plus decades with the franchise. Now that Lou has found a new hockey home alongside Leafs head coach Mike Babcock, the assumption has been that Babcock would handle much of the day-to-day personnel decision-making and Lamoriello would take a broader, more big picture approach. It's a picture that, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, may include Travis Zajac.
Per Friedman, there are several NHL personnel men who believe that Lamoriello would "love" to get his hands on Zajac.
Lamoriello was able to make and keep the Devils competitive for so many years - they made the playoffs 20 out of the 23 years he spent with the organization - by finding steady, consistent, if unremarkable contributors like Zajac and plugging them in and up and down the New Jersey lineup.
Zajac, 30, is one of Lamoriello's recent first-round picks, having joined the league via the 2004 NHL Draft. In nine NHL season, Zajac has proven both durable and productive. Other than a 2011-12 campaign that saw him appear in just 15 games and the lockout-shortened 2012-13, Zajac has suited up for at least 74 regular season contests every other NHL season. He's topped 20-goals twice and hit double digit markers seven times (and likely would have made it eight were it not for the lockout).
An alternate captain for the Devils, his addition would likely come with a hefty price tag. Considering the Leafs just traded away some fairly significant prospect capital in the Michael Grabner trade, it's hard to envision them doing the same in order to add a player like Zajac.
That being said, it's not anything that would likely prove prohibitive either, especially considering the Leafs have struggled so mightily to retain the puck in recent seasons - and not to mention lack anything resembling an elite center - and Zajac has posted a plus-50 Corsi for percentage at even strength seven out of his nine professional seasons, so it certainly would make sense for Lamoriello, Babcock and Brendan Shanahan to think long and hard about making a run at him.
