Toronto Maple Leafs: With Nothing to Lose, Expect a Massive Trade

The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to make an absolutely massive move sometime between now and the NHL’s trade deadline.

While most teams don’t do much more than tinker at the edges heading in to the playoffs, the Toronto Maple Leafs are highly likely to make a major addition. 

The reason the Leafs will make a massive addition is simple:

They have nothing to lose.

Toronto Maple Leafs Will Go Big at the Deadline

It was a modern day miracle that the corporate ownership of the Toronto Maple Leafs, for the first time in their existence, stayed the course and went with process over results.

Based on how pretty much every pro sports team in the world operates, Brendan Shanahan, Kyle Dubas and Sheldon Keefe should have been fired last summer when the Leafs lost their fifth straight first round series.

Though the team stayed the course because the math showed that they were powerfully unlucky and in possession of one of, if not the best actual roster in the NHL, it was very surprising that they did.

Every single reason for the 55 years of Toronto Maple Leafs failure can be traced back to the fact that ownership is never patient, never sticks with anything, and pretty much always blows the whole thing up at the first sign of failure.

For 55 years, if the fans and media wanted a change, they got a change.  Until last last summer when the suits stuck with their guys.  It was as good a move as it was unlikely.

But don’t expect a repeat performance.

If the Leafs do not win a minimum of one round (and likely more) they will for sure be getting a new GM and almost certainly also a new coach and president. This will be a mistake, but it will be what happens.

And therefore, they will be going all in this year.

The team has nothing to lose, and so they are going to trade the future for a player who puts them over the top.  There will be no Nick Folignos this year.

Who is your favorite Leafs prospect? Nick Robertson? Topi Niemela? Rodion Amirov?

They’re all available.

Don’t like when your team trades first-rounders?  I wouldn’t be surprised if they traded two of them this year.

Think Rasmus Sandin is untouchable?

Think again.

Everyone short of Nylander, Marner, Matthews, Tavares, Rielly and Campbell, who doesn’t have a NTC, is potentially available.

And if there is a non-playoff team looking to move an actual superstar player, expect the Toronto Maple Leafs to enquire.

Nothing else makes sense.  Kyle Dubas and Brendan Shanahan won’t get another chance, so expect them to make the most of this one.  Unless they are the two most selfless people to ever run a sports franchise, they have no reason to think about any other season except for this one.

Therefore, expect the Toronto Maple Leafs to make an absolutely massive Trade Deadline addition.