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Maple Leafs Edging Toward Painful Truth As Trade Deadline Nears
One insider believes Toronto has one clear path heading into the trade deadline.
The Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t think they’d be in this position 12 months ago when they were buyers at the 2025 trade deadline. If they did, they wouldn’t have gone through with trading their 2026 first-round pick and a top prospect in Fraser Minten to the Boston Bruins for Brandon Carlo. They also would’ve held on to their 2027 first-round pick and Nikita Grebenkin instead of acquiring Scott Laughton.
Instead, the Maple Leafs now face the uncomfortable reality of missing the playoffs and forfeiting a lottery pick to the Bruins. Toronto does have the fortune of the pick being top-five protected, but it’s unlikely they’ll fall that far unless they win the lottery. The reality for Toronto now is the possibility of becoming sellers at this year’s trade deadline to recoup some of those assets they gave away.
In the opinion of NHL analyst Craig Button via the Frankly Hockey podcast, the Maple Leafs have no choice but to accept their reality and go through a retool.
Toronto has to see where this is going if they don’t make some changes. The Atlantic Division is full of contending teams, and it isn’t going to be easy for the Leafs to crawl their way back into the playoff picture. Even if they do, the division’s future is bright, with some strong young teams and others, like the Bruins, going through an accelerated retool that has them already back in contention. The Maple Leafs would be wise to make the same moves.
Maple Leafs Stumbling Into Trade Deadline
If taking a page from the Bruins’ retool, the Maple Leafs can create a blueprint. Boston traded Carlo, Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic, and Justin Brazeau. Most of those trades are already paying dividends with players currently on the roster and prospects in the pipeline. They also still have some first-round picks from those trades to acquire even more top-end prospects.
The Maple Leafs have a ton of players they could trade. Bobby McMann, Scott Laughton, Calle Jarnkrok, and Troy Stecher are the players who have increased their value the most this season. However, they could also look at flipping players like Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Matias Maccelli, Nick Robertson, and Carlo.
If Toronto wants to improve its future, it has the pieces to do so. The only issue is that it would take some uncomfortable conversations with their star players and fanbase.
Next: Maple Leafs Could Be Deadline Sellers — and It May Go Deeper Than Expected
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