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Trade Deadline Has Passed But Toronto Maple Leafs Aren’t Done

By Stephen Nixon

TORONTO, ON - MAY 27: Jake Muzzin #8 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his 2nd goal of the game against the Montreal Canadiens in Game Five of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 27, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MAY 27: Jake Muzzin #8 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his 2nd goal of the game against the Montreal Canadiens in Game Five of the First Round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena on May 27, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Canadiens defeated the Maple Leafs 4-3 in overtime. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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The NHL Trade Deadline has passed but it doesn’t mean the Toronto Maple Leafs are done making moves.

It’s too early to call this NHL Trade Deadline a success for the Toronto Maple Leafs because that’ll get determined in the spring, but overall they did a good job.

They lost one defenseman in Travis Dermott, but they acquired two better one’s in Mark Giordano and new fan-favorite Ilya Lyubushkin. That’s one heck of a swap, in my opinion.

It was speculated that Toronto may have to trade Alex Kerfoot and Justin Holl, but that never happened, which is a huge bonus. Both of those players can play solid minutes in the playoffs, so fans should be pumped that they’re still on the roster.

Not only that, but Toronto didn’t give away a prospect or a first-round pick..

Overall, I’d say that’s a pretty successful day.

The one unfortunate part is that Toronto didn’t upgrade their goaltending position, but they trust Jack Campbell will return to form.

Toronto Maple Leafs Team Will Only Improve After NHL Trade Deadline

If Campbell can return to his old-self, it’ll feel like the Leafs acquired an NHL All-Star goaltender at the NHL Trade Deadline, which is what Kyle Dubas is banking on.

However, the biggest additions to come will be Jake Muzzin and potentially a young and exciting prospect.

Muzzin is on LTIR and we don’t know when he’s coming back, but if he’s healthy enough for Game 1 of the playoffs, that’ll be like acquiring another top-four defenseman at the Deadline. The addition of Muzzin will solidify this Leafs defensive group and will make the Giordano trade even more significant.

Regarding the prospect, many people expect the Leafs to sign Matthews Knies to an NHL-contract in the next few weeks. If Knies signs with Toronto, he could easily jump into the line-up for the playoffs and provide a spark for the team.

At 6-foot-3, 210 pounds, the 19-year-old seems big enough to make the leap and could provide some necessary bottom-six or second-unit power-play scoring.

Knies is currently playing with the University of Minnesota and is third on the team in scoring, as a freshman (stats: hockeydb.com). Drafted 57th overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Knies is developing at a much quicker rate than expected and is well on his way to the pro-game.

Nick Robertson did the same thing during the 2020 Play-In Games, while Kasperi Kapanen scored two goals in six games during the 2017 playoff run after scoring 43 points in 43 games with the Toronto Marlies that year.

There’s no salary-cap when the playoffs start, so the addition of Knies and Muzzin won’t affect anything if they show up for Game One of the playoffs.

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As a result, although the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t do a ton at the NHL Trade Deadline, they still have a few tricks up their sleeves to get better when the playoffs start.

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