SAN JOSE – First, the trade.



The Maple Leafs have added Brian Boyle from the Tampa Bay Lightning. It cost them a second-round pick in 2017 and minor-leaguer Byron Froese, who wasn’t in the organization’s plans.



So a second-round pick.



The question Leafs fans are going to ask here is: Does it make sense for a still young, rebuilding team to give up a relatively high pick, likely in the top 50, for a 32-year-old rental player?



The answer is yes.



Boyle is exactly what the Leafs need up front. He’s perhaps the only thing they need up front. He is a 6-foot-6 centre who can win draws, play a strong possession game and kill penalties. He is older, but he has not slowed down; this has been one of his best seasons.



If you gave head coach Mike Babcock the ability to create his own Frankenstein monster for a fourth-line centre, he would bring to life something that looks and plays exactly like Brian Boyle.



The...