Once upon a time, the Toronto Maple Leafs were actually trying to add players in the middle of last season. Instead of now hoping for lottery balls to go their way, the Leafs were looking to make some mid-season changes to maybe sneak into the playoffs and not be a complete embarrassment.
And now, we know what that would've cost.
Rasmus Andersson was a major target for the Maple Leafs. His name was connected to Toronto for several months as the potential saving grace to change the blue line and add someone that is actually capable of moving the puck up the ice, not just focused on standing in front of a shot and possibly blocking it.
Before the Flames traded Andersson to the Golden Knights for Zach Whitecloud, a first- and a second-round pick, and a mid-level prospect, there were in talks with now former general manager Brad Treliving to ship him to the Leafs. But it looks like it would've cost the Leafs a whole lot.
According to Darren Dreger, on a TSN 1050 First Up show earlier this week, the Leafs would've had to trade rookie winger Easton Cowan, and two first-round picksto get the deal done.
Darren Dreger: I believe the Flames wanted two 1sts and Easton Cowan for Rasmus Andersson - First Up (4/13)
— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) April 18, 2026
Flames wanted way too much from Maple Leafs for Rasmus Andersson
That would have been horrific. Maybe the only reason that trade could've been accepted and finalized is if Treliving wanted to make the Brandon Carlo trade look not that bad.
Andersson is a decent player, but he's not going to transform a blue line from being a mediocre sack of six players that would rather stand still and wave their stick around in an attempt to prevent shots, to one that can reliably provide a whole lot of value on both ends of the puck.
Maybe now the saving grace is that the Leafs looked dead on arrival this season. There wasn't a point where we could reasonably think that they would finalize a playoff spot after the first couple of months, so it didn't make sense to acquire Andersson at all, who was heading into unrestricted free agency at that point.
Even if the Leafs gave up Cowan and one single first-round draft pick for Andersson, it would lead to immediate regret as the season would have not changed one bit. So, thank goodness that didn't happen. Maybe we can thank Flames general manager Craig Conroy for having such high demands which prevented Treliving from pulling the trigger.
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