With the 4 Nations Face-Off wrapping up on Thursday and the NHL resuming play on Saturday, the Toronto Maple Leafs have less than three weeks to solidify their trade deadline strategy. According to The Athletic’s Jonas Siegel, the team cannot afford a cautious approach and must go all-in before the March 7 deadline. Siegel emphasized that last year’s conservative moves had minimal playoff impact and urged general manager Brad Treliving to take an aggressive stance.
“The Leafs made four moves ahead of last year’s deadline,” Siegel noted. “Six picks in all were spent… but (the acquired players) had only marginal impact in the postseason. If not now, when?”
He argues that Toronto must make a bold move to strengthen its roster and make a legitimate championship push. “They need a splash,” Siegel insisted.
Before the 2024 trade deadline, the Maple Leafs bolstered their roster by acquiring defensemen Ilya Lyubushkin and Joel Edmundson, along with forward Connor Dewar. Despite not giving up any key players in these deals, Toronto still suffered a first-round playoff exit.
Jonas Siegel argues that center depth remains a major concern for the team—an issue general manager Brad Treliving has admitted he is working to address before the deadline.
Jonas Siegel highlights that the Maple Leafs entered the season aware they needed a stronger option behind Auston Matthews and John Tavares at center. However, he argues that none of the players who have filled the third-line center role have made an impact and would likely struggle in the playoffs.
More notably, Siegel points out that Toronto faces a challenging trade market with limited options and lacks valuable trade assets—unless they are willing to part with top prospects or draft picks to acquire a true difference-maker.
Jonas Siegel warns that if the Maple Leafs refuse to part with top assets, they will once again be limited to acquiring marginal players—third- and fourth-liners or third-pairing defensemen—similar to last year’s deadline moves.
This sentiment is shared by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, who noted on Feb. 6 that Toronto “might not be able to shoot as high as a 2C” due to the absence of a 2025 first-round pick to trade. However, analyst Justin Bourne expects the Leafs to move at least one of their top prospects, such as Easton Cowan or Fraser Minten, aligning with Siegel’s stance that Toronto must be willing to pay the price for an impact player.
Justin Bourne emphasizes that while the Maple Leafs don’t have an abundance of trade assets, acquiring a true impact player will require them to part with something valuable.
Toronto returns from the break sitting second in the Atlantic Division with a 33-20-2 record and 68 points, tied for the fourth-most in the Eastern Conference. Jonas Siegel believes the road to the Stanley Cup Final isn’t as challenging as in past years, arguing that with one or more significant additions, the Leafs could push past the competition and make a legitimate run.