The NHL Trade Deadline will be here before we know it, so expect the Toronto Maple Leafs to make a trade soon.
Whether or not the Toronto Maple Leafs do indeed make a big splash, they’ll be competing for the President’s Trophy this year, as the best regular season team. However, that trophy doesn’t mean anything. The only thing that matters is a Stanley Cup.
Regular season success doesn’t always translate into postseason results. Hockey is the only sport where the game drastically changes from regular season to playoffs, so your team needs to be built a little differently in order to win when the games matter the most.
When Toronto’s at full-strength, their team has a lot of depth up-front, while Jack Campbell is a legit number-one netminder. The defense has been good in terms of their “goals-allowed” number this year, but defensively, they still need help.
It’s possible that they could get through a playoff round or two with their current defensive group, but I wouldn’t put any money on it. Playing Justin Holl, Timothy Liljegren and Travis Dermott meaningful minutes in a huge game scares the crap out of me.
They need to upgrade their defense immediately, and if there’s a cheap forward option at left-wing or centre, they should look at that too.
We’ll be looking at different trade options by division, so let’s start with the Atlantic Division.