With the 4 Nations Face-Off now complete, the trade deadline looms large and is just a few weeks away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The 2024-25 campaign marks the ninth year in a row the Maple Leafs are vying for a Stanley Cup championship since their competitive window re-opened in 2016-17. Toronto is in the 58th year of their Stanley Cup drought and they’ll have as good an opportunity as any to break that this season. Although it’s still the most competitive division in the NHL, the Eastern Conference feels more open than in years past which should motivate the Maple Leafs to be aggressive at this year’s deadline.
Record
33-20-2, 2nd in the Atlantic Division
Deadline Status
Buyers
Deadline Cap Space
$2.201MM on deadline day + $3.570MM LTIR pool, 0/3 retention spots used, 48/50 contract spots used, per PuckPedia.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2025: FLA 2nd, EDM 3rd, TOR 5th, TOR 6th, TOR 7th
2026: TOR 1st, TOR 3rd, TOR 5th, SJ 6th
Trade Chips
This is where things get interesting for Toronto. The only draft pick worth meaningful value is their 2026 first-round pick but recent history may dissuade them from moving it. The Maple Leafs traded a boatload of first-round picks during the Kyle Dubas administration with only one Round Two appearance in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Toronto was again engaged in some of the market’s top names last season but ultimately played around the edges. The Maple Leafs acquired Joel Edmundson, Ilya Lyubushkin, and Connor Dewar near last year’s deadline. The highest-valued asset general manager Brad Treliving parted with is a 2024 third-round pick and a 2025 third-round pick.
The Maple Leafs have legitimate prospects such as Fraser Minten, Easton Cowan, and Ben Danford with whom they could part ways to land an impact player. Although Treliving didn’t appear interested in moving big-name prospects in his first year at the helm of the Maple Leafs, he’s no stranger to big moves. During his time as general manager of the Calgary Flames, Treliving brought in the likes of Jonathan Huberdeau, Elias Lindholm, Noah Hanifin, and Nikita Zadorov via trade. If Treliving warms to moving a first-round pick or top prospect, Toronto has the pieces to put themselves in a good spot for the deadline. 
Team Needs
1) Third-Line Center: Assuming Auston Matthews and John Tavares remain healthy the rest of the way, the Maple Leafs would have difficulty improving their top-six centers. Still, Max Domi’s 46.9% success rate in the faceoff dot hasn’t done much to inspire confidence in his abilities down the middle. Toronto could move Domi to the left wing alongside Tavares and William Nylander on the second if they acquire an above-average third-line center at the deadline. This strategy rests on what they’re willing to move. The Maple Leafs have plenty of options such as Ryan O’Reilly, Brock Nelson, Brayden Schenn, Jake Evans, and Scott Laughton but it’ll ultimately depend on how aggressive they’re willing to be.
2) Top-Four Right-Handed Defenseman: Potentially a more pressing need is Toronto’s lack of options on the right side of their defense in the top four. Chris Tanev has been exactly what they’ve needed him to be but the only right-handed options behind him are Conor Timmins and Philippe Myers. No offense to that duo but neither are expected to strike fear in opposing teams come postseason play. Again, the solution depends on the pieces the Maple Leafs put in play. Toronto should be involved in the markets for Colton Parayko, David Savard, or Rasmus Ristolainen, with any of the three being realistic additions.
Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.
4D chess move – trade Marner for picks and prospects with salary retained. Restock the cupboard while still being a playoff team.
But the goal is checkmate. Why give up the chance at a championship to restock the cupboards?
Every single other team in the NHL could lose their top six forwards and top four defenders to injury and Toronto would still find a way to choke in the playoffs.
I’m not opposed to it. It’s a better idea than trading him for Rantanen and hoping he re-signs instead.
If a package exists with a pick, prospect, and top six forward so the team can remain competitive currently, I’d definitely have to consider it.
Toronto will just trade another first round pick in the Matthews era to solidify 3C for the playoffs.
It’s beyond frustrating being a fan of this team.
Management has failed to address the same need they’ve had since the Kadri trade. They have no dependable C that can comfortably slot into 3C or 2C in a pinch, a hole that has only deepened as Tavares ages out of the position (and ironically, he could fill the team’s other big hole up front– top six LW) . The team has the horses at the top and a King’s ransom of wing options in the bottom six and Kampf is fine at 4C for now. It’s so, so, so frustrating.
Get that damn center. But please, make it a larger trade for a player with term who will be part of the core going forward. No one in their thirties with no interest in playing here long-term.
Ben Danford is a defenseman, not a forward. And no offense to him but I’d be shocked if he’d land an “impact player” in a trade like Cowan and (maybe) Minten would. Good kid whose stock is rising though, so his trade value could be higher than I think.
I’d dangle the G prospect too, Akhtyamov. Another arrow-up AHLer. The Leafs may not have many prime trade assets but they should have enough to make a meaningful improvement at the deadline.
When you have to backup goaltenders you aren’t going far in the playoffs.
Toronto has assembled not one, but two men whose fate it is to falter and lose whenever it really matters – in both Tavares and Matthews. Nothing TOR will do at the deadline will be enough to balance out that Karma and thus win anything of importance…