Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving is surely keeping an eye on the standings roughly a month and a half into the season.
But the scoreboard watching isn’t about which teams are ahead of the Toronto Maple Leafs, it’s about which teams have sunk to the bottom of their respective division. These teams could be big sellers at the trade deadline.
Depending on the circumstances, some of these clubs could be motivated to hold a fire sale if they fall out of contention by Christmas. While there’s always a chance these teams could turn things around, the numbers show they’re trending in the wrong direction.
Though Leafs GM Brad Treliving has been fairly shy about making trades so far in his tenure - he hasn't made a single one of significance - it seems that he'll have to make a few this year because the Leafs are in win-now mode and have several obvious weaknesses.
The Leafs have a almost no scoring from the bottom of their lineup and are dressing up to five fourth liners per game sometimes. Additionally they are one of the thinnest teams in the league at centre-ice, despite having one of, if not the very best, top-two centre combos.
The Leafs will also need to shore up their blue-line if they are going to win, though finding the kind of player they need to do that in-season could prove to be difficult.
So, let’s take a look at three teams with impending fire sales the Toronto Maple Leafs could target ahead or at the trade deadline.