The NHL trade deadline is closing in. Teams around the league have until 3:00 p.m. this Friday to make any deals and then it will be nothing for the rest of the season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are supposed to be a major player on deadline week, as they sink towards the bottom of the league standings (after yet another pitiful loss Monday night) but have not made any moves yet. If we go off of what one NHL insider is saying on his latest trade board, though, we could see a whole lot of action in the next 48 hours.
The Athletic's Chris Johnston put out his latest trade board on Monday, to kick off a week's worth of rumours and have us thinking about potential deals. But it wasn't just a couple Maple Leafs players named here and there -- it was a shotgun blast of players on Toronto's roster that could be playing somewhere else this time next week.
So many Maple Leafs were named on Chris Johnston's latest trade board
On the list of 56 players who could potentially be dealt ahead of Friday's trade deadline, a total of five Maple Leafs were named. That is the second-most players from a team in the NHL, with the league-worst Vancouver Canucks being the only team to best that number, with seven players on it (that is wild).
It starts at the very top, with Leafs blueliner Oliver Ekman-Larsson coming in at No. 10 on Johnston's board and the NHL insider said that while he is signed for two more seasons, he's an attractive asset to move especially due to his previous time with the Florida Panthers in the playoffs.
Next, comes two forwards back to back. Bobby McMann is at No. 16 and Scott Laughton is at No. 17 -- the two rental forwards who should get Toronto back some at least above-average assets have been named in trade rumours all season long. As the Leafs appeared less and less likely to make the playoffs, it made less and less sense to re-sign either of these forwards and trading them feels likely at this point.
You have to scroll a little bit further for the next Leaf, but it wouldn't be a surprise is Simon Benoit (at No. 40) is moved for something like a mid-round draft pick for the Leafs to free up a roster spot and for him to bring a physical edge as a depth defenseman on a much better team.
And finally, near the bottom of the list at No. 52 is depth forward Calle Jarnkrok, who, like Benoit, could be moved for almost nothing but it would be clearing up some space for a younger player to be up on the NHL roster.
It would be surprising if all five of these players were traded, and maybe just because it would mean general manager Brad Treliving pulling off five trades in 48 hours, but there is certainly a possibility for more than a couple to be on the move.