The Toronto Maple Leafs pulled off a big 4-3 overtime win Saturday against the New York Rangers, one of the NHL’s top teams. Leafs fans have been relatively happy with Toronto’s recent hot streak as a group – the Buds have gone 13-3-0 since Jan. 20 – but there’s always room for speculation about roster moves leading up to the league’s March 8 trade deadline, and moves have already began in Toronto, with the Leafs’ latest trade acquisition, defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin.
That said, the Leafs are one of the NHL’s most salary-cap-strapped teams, with only $144,000 in cap space to try and get better by the trade deadline. That means Buds GM Brad Treliving is going to have to be creative, the way he was when he dealt for Lyubushkin last week. Involving a third team to make the money work under the cap is probably going to happen again in any other Leafs deal by the deadline. And that means Toronto management is almost assuredly going to give up draft picks and current prospects to get deals done this week.
We can clearly see Treliving trading one of his first-round draft picks if the player he trades for is signed beyond this season. Cost certainty is important for all GMs, and if the Leafs can bring in a player for the short-and-long haul – the way they did last season when they landed veteran defenseman Jake McCabe – they’re going to do so.
Not every team is going to pull off blockbuster deals, and that’s perfectly OK. Some teams feel they need only a sprinkle of depth additions, as they know the Stanley Cup playoffs are a war of attrition, and it makes a difference to have many options as the post-season unfolds. This is what we’d file the Lyubushkin deal is all about; he’s not going to be a first, second, or third star of the game, but Lyubushkin is a bigger body who embraces the physical element of the game. He can be asked to play on the third pairing without fear of being overwhelmed with the responsibility of playing on a top Cup contender like the Leafs.
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But something tells us Treliving wants to make a more significant move. If that involves moving out a prospect like Nick Robertson, we think he’s prepared to make that deal. If it means trading a solid American League player like Alex Steeves or Nick Abruzzese, we think Treliving is ready to make that trade. Toronto doesn’t need to remake their first two lines, but if they do get a chance to improve the third and fourth lines – or, of course, find a veteran defenseman to beef up one of their top-two ‘D’ pairings – the Leafs will absolutely take a swing to land one.
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The Leafs’ successes this season show how close they really are to being a world-beater. You can look up and down the lineup and see players who’ve either thrived for the entire season (Hi Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner!) or who’ve gone through ups and downs and been stronger of late (Hi Max Domi, Tyler Bertuzzi and Ilya Samsonov!). There are very few holes in this roster, and now it’s up to Treliving to figure out how to plug in the pieces necessary for a long and fruitful playoff run.
Does that mean it’s time for a massive move? We’d like to say “no” to that question, but it is possible that management wants to give a significantly different look at the pieces that are surrounding the “Core Four”. That’s why we’re guessing the Leafs go a more modest route on the trade front and make one or two depth deals by the deadline. The star pieces are already there, and now it’s about giving them the help they need to be a strong contender once playoff hockey begins in April.
This is not to say Leafs fans can’t daydream about a huge trade. But it is to say Toronto most likely will be taking a delicate approach to the deadline. A move for a forward or D-man is almost certainly coming, but it may not be a household name or a superstar performer. That’s a reasonable expectation for Leafs fans in the next week.