Nine successive seasons of making the Stanley Cup playoffs and unsuccessful attempts to round off the roster for the ultimate triumph have caught up with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
A prolonged commitment to the same core of players did not lead to success. Now, a key part of that core, star homegrown winger Mitch Marner, has left, and the Leafs are in search of a replacement.
Previous deals have seen the Maple Leafs trade away future first-round draft picks and prospects for veterans, in some cases, rental players who didn't help bring postseason results and left to play elsewhere.
General manager Brad Treliving has correctly stated a need for change, but past transactions have left a bare cupboard of resources. So while dreams of adding a front-line player, such as a Nazem Kadri reunion, percolate, what trade chips does Treliving have at his disposal to make it happen?
After last season's trade deadline acquisition of former Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo for Fraser Minten and the Leafs' first-round pick in 2026, Easton Cowan is currently the only blue-chip prospect remaining in the organization. Sending away that first-rounder, coupled with deals from prior years, has left the Maple Leafs without a first-round pick until 2028.
Cowan is the Leafs' best prospect and has accomplished all there is to do at the junior level. Despite promising appearances with the Maple Leafs over the past two preseasons, he has yet to prove himself at the next level.
If he demonstrates he can play regularly in the NHL, against bigger, stronger, faster players, expecting him to be a significant offensive contributor right away is wishful thinking. Also, while the Leafs hold Cowan in high regard, it doesn't mean other NHL teams do. A straight-up swap of Cowan for a proven top-six talent would not be sensible to most other GMs.
A Maple Leafs trade partner is likely to want a draft-pick sweetener, along with Cowan, of which Toronto has a dearth. In addition to no first-round pick until 2028, the Leafs have no second or fourth-round pick in 2026 and no third-round pick in 2027.
If you are Treliving and the Leafs, would you want to trade Cowan for a thirty-something player on the downside of their career for a limited, say two-year window, over the next three years when Auston Matthews' contract expires? Potential trade candidates to the Maple Leafs, such as Kadri, Erik Karlsson, Brayden Schenn, Bryan Rust, and Rickard Rakell, all fall into this category.
It's too great a risk to give up your best prospect in Cowan, a potential top-six or nine winger for the next decade, for an older, declining player with a short window for success. Over their history, the Leafs have done that much too often, only to see their former players prosper elsewhere.
Trading From the Current Roster Has Limitations
The Maple Leafs' depth in goal and on defense has become their strength. With the team's lack of draft capital and prospects, Treliving must consider trading someone from the roster.
The problem is that forwards Calle Jarnkrok, David Kampf, or Max Domi will not fetch much (or anything) as salary cap dumps. Trading away a defenseman from the top four of Chris Tanev, Jake McCabe, Morgan Rielly ( who also has a no-movement clause), and Carlo, for a forward, only weakens that group.
Another Treliving option is to trade away a goaltender. Anthony Stolarz has upped his value after his tremendous first season in Toronto. Joseph Woll was again solid during the 2024-2025 season and, more importantly, stayed healthy.
The roadblock to trading away either is the depth chart behind them. Veteran Matt Murray has moved on, Dennis Hildeby and Artur Akhtyamov need more time to prove themselves. Trading away Stolarz or Woll puts the Leafs' goaltending in dire straits, given their injury histories and unproven commodities behind them.
Treliving's only course of action is to be patient, bide his time, and roll the dice on the coming season with players like Matias Maccelli and incumbent Nick Robertson playing a top-six role. A short-sighted mistake for the 2025-2026 season could be costly for the future.
The Toronto Maple Leafs' past moves have narrowed Treliving's possibilities of finding a replacement for Marner and helping this year's roster. The GM needs to use his time to next year's NHL trade deadline for internal assessments on Hildeby and Cowan, and save salary cap space for a strong unrestricted free agent class of 2026. The absence of sensible options and an empty pantry has left him no choice.