Toronto Maple Leafs Have Unique Opportunity to Stack Team

The speculation about the Toronto Maple Leafs and the NHL trade deadline grows louder by the day.

I am writing this Saturday afternoon with the hope that the Toronto Maple Leafs don’t make a trade between now and tomorrow when it’s going to be published.  The reason for my nervousness is that, despite the deadline being half a month away, the (newly announced) one-week quarantine for cross border trades may accelerate the action.

Regardless of when it goes down, the Leafs have a unique opportunity at this trade deadline that likely will never come again.

Their odds of winning are greatly improved by the fact that they won’t have to plan an American team until the Conference Finals.  If they were in the Atlantic division their most likely path to the Conference Final would be through Boston and Tampa, which is a ridiculous gauntlet whereby the first two teams you play are almost guaranteed to be better than the last two teams, where you to make it all the way.

Not only do the Leafs have an easier-than-normal path, but their best players are at the peak of their careers, they already have a great team, and they’ve got a ton of assets to use if they want to.

Additionally, it seems to be very much a buyer’s market, and there are franchise-level players potentially available.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Need Elite Players

Trading for Mikael Granlund Rickard Rakell just won’t cut it. Not this year.

When the Leafs say they are ALL IN they better, if they truly mean it, that means going after bigger fish.  There is one way the Leafs can elevate themselves above their competition (TB, Bos, VGK, Col and Car) and that is to not only trade for Taylor Hall, but also Mattias Ekholm.

This would give the Leafs the forwards in the NHL and the best blue-line.

James Mirtle in the Athletic wrote an outline last week about how the Leafs could manipulate the cap and, using another team to retain extra salary, work Taylor Hall into the fold.  Let’s say they had to pay a first round pick and a prospect to get it done.

In order to get Ekholm, they’d probably have to trade Nick Robertson.  Additionally, it would cost Alex Kerfoot to make the salary work. I’d hate to see both go, but the Leafs now have a team that is stacked beyond belief. (stats naturalstattrick.com).

Statistically, Jake Muzzin is an elite player and he’d now be the “worst” out of the Leafs new positively insane top-four.  Travis Dermott and Justin Holl would be an untouchable third pairing and they’d have Rasmus Sandin and Zach Bogosian for depth.

On Forward, the Leafs new fifth best offensive option is an elite player who drives the net and creates a ton of chances with some of the best wheels in the league.

A few months ago this would have been a stupid thing to write, but it’s a very real possibility.  Is it probable? No, but it’s possible.  There’s two highly elite players available, and if “all in” is anything more than a stupid catchphrase, the Leafs will get them.