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Toronto Maple Leafs Roundtable: Trade Deadline Targets And Needs

By Wilbert Timmermans

TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 07: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his game winning goal at 13:10 in overtime to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 07, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ONTARIO - AUGUST 07: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his game winning goal at 13:10 in overtime to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Qualification Round prior to the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on August 07, 2020 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by Andre Ringuette/Freestyle Photo/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – JANUARY 19: Taylor Hall #4 of the Buffalo Sabres . (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – JANUARY 19: Taylor Hall #4 of the Buffalo Sabres . (Photo by Drew Hallowell/Getty Images) /

Jordan Maresky

Heading into the 2021 trade deadline, GM Kyle Dubas and Co. should be focused on acquiring one thing – a top six forward. In an effort to transform the team’s blueline, offloading Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson in the offseason greatly hampered the team’s forward depth. And thus far, it has paid off.

TJ Brodie has performed just as advertised, while Zach Bogosian, a signing somewhat overlooked at the time, has exceeded expectations and has been a welcome addition to the Leafs bottom pairing.

At the start of the season, Jimmy Vesey had the first opportunity to succeed alongside John Tavares and William Nylander, but the Massachusetts native was never able to find a fitting in the Leafs top six. Eventually demoted to the bottom six and then placed on waivers on Tuesday, this $900,000 offseason investment, unfortunately, did not work out.

Add in the fact Zach Hyman has dominated playing on the third line with Pierre Engvall and Ilya Mikheyev and Alex Kerfoot looking out of place on the second line, Dubas is now back to the drawing board, exploring the trade market for potential forward upgrades.

At various points throughout the past two weeks, players like Mikael Granlund, Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri, Rickard Rakell, Alex Iafollo, and Nick Foligno have all been linked to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Any of these acquisitions would instantly improve the Leafs forward group and as we sit a couple of weeks out from the April 12th deadline, the clock is ticking for Dubas to work his magic.

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