It appears you can count the Toronto Maple Leafs among the teams interested in veteran defenceman Justin Braun ahead of the trade deadline.

TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun reports the Leafs are among the teams considering the Philadelphia Flyers pending unrestricted free agent, if they can't land a bigger name.

"One name to keep an eye on with the Leafs and other contenders is a name that’s more under the radar in terms of defencemen, Justin Braun," LeBrun said Thursday on Insider Trading. "Not a very sexy name, but at this time of year, those are the types of trades that while they don’t get a lot of attention, those are the type of playoff additions that end up paying off. Justin Braun, who has played 100 career NHL playoff games, he’s playing in a top-four role in Philly. The Flyers are going to deal him, he’s a pending UFA.

"He only makes $1.8 million and, to be honest, that’s probably one of the reasons why the Flyers have heard from half-a-dozen teams over the last couple weeks. Carolina is another team that’s called. We’ll see where this goes. He’s not a Plan A guy, he’s probably not even a Plan B guy, but he’s on a lot of lists in case teams strike out on bigger names on defence."

Braun has four goals and 13 points in 49 games with the Flyers this season while averaging 19:59 of ice time. 

A veteran of 12 NHL seasons, Braun has 32 goals and 192 points in 771 career games. He reached the Stanley Cup Final with the San Jose Sharks in 2016 but is still chasing his first championship.

The Maple Leafs, who improved to 32-12-3 with a win 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins Thursday, currently have just over $250,000 cap space, according to CapFriendly.