Now almost one month into the books, the Toronto Maple Leafs sure haven’t had the start that they were expecting so far in the 2025-26 NHL season. Sporting just a 5-5-1 record, they may only be five points out of first place in the Atlantic Division, but they happen to be also one point away from the basement as well.
More significantly, the Maple Leafs haven’t been as fast and dominating like in years past. In fact, it even feels slow, stagnant and too predictable at times as well. Perhaps they need some kind of shakeup to spark the team to get out of their early funk. As a result, Toronto could explore the trade route to help make things happen. Here, we will take a look at three moves that the Leafs should make sooner rather than later to bolster the roster going forward.
The Leafs should acquire a puck-moving defenseman
Part of having a strong defense is having defensemen that could move the puck readily out of the defensive zone. Not only that, if they could also move the play up the ice and contribute offensively as well, being able to keep the puck in the offensive zone is also a way to defend effectively. The Leafs may have a couple already with Morgan Rielly and Oliver Ekman-Larsson leading the way. But they should really look into adding a third puck-moving defenseman to have that complementary ability on all three defensive pairings at all times to keep the opponents on their toes.
With the San Jose Sharks apparently willing to take trade calls for both defensemen Mario Ferraro and former Leaf Timothy Liljegren, perhaps Toronto can rekindle with their familiar trade partner from the past to bring either one of them to town. Both players can average close to 20 points per season while providing potential clean zone exits in the process. Having given up the sixth-most goals this season already with 42 to date, that counter ability could be key for the Leafs, as they have been hemmed in their zone by the opposition more often than not this season.
The Leafs need to trade Nick Robertson
As much as it may be tough to finally give up on the promising young forward, the Leafs should look into moving on from Nick Robertson. After putting up back-to-back double-digit goals and 20+ points seasons in 2023-24 and 2024-25, Robertson has still been looking to find his niche with the Leafs this year. He has looked a little better after moving up the lineup due to injury woes to William Nylander and Calle Jarnkrok, posting three points in his last three games played.
Nevertheless, once Nylander is healthy again, which appears to be pretty soon, Robertson would likely go back down to the bottom six where he has struggled to produce so far this season. Rather than wasting his goal-scoring talent for another season and beyond in a role in which he is not really suited for, perhaps moving him in exchange for a valuable asset could present a win-win situation for both the Leafs and Robertson going forward.
The Leafs should add a top-six forward
As hard as no one wants to admit it, the Maple Leafs offense just hasn’t been the same without Mitch Marner’s presence in the lineup. Outside of the new “core four” that had been carrying the load, the next best Leafs forwards all have only four points to show for this season to date. To really get Toronto’s offense going again, the addition of a scoring top-six forward could provide the perfect antidote to their current problems.
Names such as Martin Necas and Alex Tuch had surfaced in recent weeks as potential trade targets, while the potential to reunite with former Leafs fan favourite Nazem Kadri could be more a long shot now after NHL insider Darren Dreger indicated that the Calgary Flames have no intention to move Kadri. Nevertheless, if the Leafs were to add some firepower, they need to make sure that player moves the needle and not settle for another bottom-six forward. With their defense already underperforming, Toronto should act soon to at least get the offense clicking to offset that deficiency before it becomes too late.