The Toronto Maple Leafs need a defenseman above all other concerns. Specifically, they need a number-one defenseman who can move the puck and push all the other members of their blue-line down one notch.
The Toronto Maple Leafs also need another centre, and a top six winger.
They also have to consider that Max Pacioretty, Max Domi, Connor Dewar, Ryan Reaves, Simon Benoit, Conor Timmins and David Kampf all hurt their team and see what they can do about getting rid of them.
It's going to be a busy deadline but ironically, the Leafs have limited assets and even less cap-space despite being in a prime position to add to their team and having extremely well-defined needs. The Leafs are linked to a lot of lazy "realistic" options that won't actually help them. There is also a lot of talk about the Leafs going "all-in" but no one ever says what that would look like.
Here is what "going all-in" looks like - 5 trades the Leafs could make to take the biggest swing possible at the deadline.
The Top 5 Best Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Targets
1. Noah Dobson
He is 25, right-handed, 6'4 and coming off a 70 point season. Need more? He has roughly the same cap-hit as Max Domi. The Leafs need to move heaven and earth to get this player on their roster - he's a perfect fit and he's thought to be available. Not getting him constitutes a huge failure.
The Leafs trade Matthew Knies, a 2027 first-rounder and Max Domi for Dobson and Pierre Engvall 50% retained.
2. Brock Boeser
Boeser has a $6.5 million cap-hit. He's 28 and a pending RFA. The Leafs would be getting him as a pure rental. They would send their 2026 first rounder to the Canucks along with Easton Cowan and Topi Niemela for Boeser 50% retained. The Leafs send Timmins and Kampf back to Vancouver to make it work within the cap.
3. Scott Laughton
The Leafs still need a centre, so they trade an unprotected 2028 first rounder to the Flyers for Scott Laughton, 50% retained. Connor Dewar goes back the other way for the cap.
4. Mike Matheson
The final piece of the puzzle, the Leafs add a second puck-moving defenseman for their bottom pairing. To make the cap work, the Leafs send a 2025 2nd, and Montreal takes on Ryan Reaves and Calle Jarnrkrok, retains 50% and also receives Dennis Hildeby and Roni Hirvonen in the trade.
5. Brandon Tanev
The Leafs send a 2027 2nd, Stephen Lorentz and Pontus Holmberg to the Kraken for Brandon Tanev with 50% retained. They then pay another team Mikko Kokkonen to retain a further 50% on his contract, practically making him priceless (!).
After the deals, here's what the Leafs lineup looks like Robertson - Matthews - Marner / McMann-Tavares-Boeser / Steeves-Laughton-Nylander / Engvall-Minten-B.Tanev
The blue-line is Rielly/Dobson, McCabe/Tanev, Matheson/OEL with Myers as the extra.
It is crazy and likely unrealistic, but that is what all-in looks like. I feel like the Leafs could do a lot worse than this.