The Toronto Maple Leafs are often involved in trade rumors throughout the NHL. They get linked to every available player, no matter the cap hit or contract type.
This season, the Toronto Maple Leafs are in rumors regarding Patrick Kane from the Chicago Blackhawks and Bo Horvat from the Vancouver Canucks.
As skilled as these players are, and as much as they would help Toronto’s top six, I think adding a rental player is a bad idea.
Since November 1st, Toronto has been near perfect with a 15-1-4 record.
The Maple Leafs currently hold the third-best record in the NHL. Toronto and the New Jersey Devils have 44 points and are three points behind the Boston Bruins.
Everything is clicking for Toronto right now. Their stars are performing, the defense is playing great, goaltenders are playing incredibly well, and the bottom six have started to provide more secondary scoring.
Considering their level of play since November 1st, Toronto does not need to add anyone. That could, and likely will change between now and the NHL trade deadline, but Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas should not be in a hurry.
One reason Toronto should avoid trading for pending unrestricted free agents is the bidding war that will occur.
Unless Dubas feels this is the year that Toronto has the best shot of winning and decides to go all in, he should avoid bidding wars for rental players. He will be better off trading for a player with term that can help us this season and beyond. So which players should Kyle Dubas and the Toronto Maple Leafs target?