The Toronto Maple Leafs are falling flat. With a 3-3-1 record through the first seven games of the season, and not looking particularly good unless they are facing a team who finished near the bottom of the overall league standings last year, they need a jolt. And that means we could see a trade go down relatively soon.
With the way recent reports have been written, it sure seems like the Maple Leafs are searching for an answer and looking at some cast-offs from other teams to get some scoring help.
According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman in his latest 32 Thoughts blog from Thursday night, the Leafs are really sending out multiple feelers in the trade market. They are looking to move on from young winger Nick Robertson and continue to try to find a home for him, but at the same time are inquiring about other wingers who might want out.
Maple Leafs want a couple of young forwards
"Toronto is investigating options for Nick Robertson. At some point in the summer, they pitched a move for Yegor Chinakhov, but that wasn’t to the Blue Jackets’ liking. That file remains open in Columbus, however. Same with Lukas Reichel in Chicago," Friedman wrote.
It's not clear whether or not Friedman is reporting that there was a one-for-one, problem-for-problem swap proposed by the Maple Leafs to the Columbus Blue Jackets for their own young winger Yegor Chinakhov, who requested a trade. It's worded in a way that it is what Friedman is reporting as much as it isn't.
And add in another forward in Chicago Blackhawks winger Lukas Reichel, and it really seems like the Leafs are targeting young wingers who want out of their current situation and have the potential to be something more than they have already shown.
Chinakhov is going to turn 25 years old this season and his best season came two years ago when he was able to score 16 goals and 29 points in 53 games while averaging over 15 minutes a night. Other than that, he's been in and out of the lineup either as a healthy scratch or a lengthy injury.
For Reichel, he's just not been trusted to be in a scoring role what so ever during his time in Chicago. The one time he did actually get opportunity -- averaging over 16 minutes a game -- was all the way back in the 2022-23 season as a 20 year old, when he managed to score seven goals and 15 points in just 23 games. Even crazier, the German winger had 42 shots on goal in those 23 games.
Meanwhile, Robertson has a similar career. Injuries have held him back and while he's been a serviceable player in the NHL, with a career-high 15 goals last season, he might just not stylistically be what the Leafs want to have in their lineup.
It's not even a sure thing that if you get rid of Robertson and replace him with either Chinakhov or Reichel, that the Leafs are a better team. They might be slightly taller on average and won't lose any footspeed, but better? It's not even close to something guaranteed.
No matter what, the Leafs are trying to find a solution to some problems as they start the season on the wrong foot.