In what would have otherwise been a quiet night with just two games on the NHL docket, the league has blown up with the news of the Quinn Hughes trade.
The Vancouver Canucks sent their captain to the Minnesota Wild for an eye-watering haul. The Canucks essentially got four first-round picks as the return featured three players selected in the first round plus a future first-round selection.
So, the question begs: How does the Quinn Hughes trade affect the Toronto Maple Leafs?
The short answer is: Not much. This trade mainly affects the balance of power in the Western Conference. The Wild will now move into a whole different category of contention. The club will move from a mild contender to a serious playoff team.
The long answer is that this deal could be the precursor for other mega-deals. Earlier on Friday, news broke of the Edmonton Oilers-Pittsburgh Penguins trade involving Stuart Skinner and Tristan Jarry. The deal seemed like the first shoe to drop ahead of other major trades.
Sure enough, that major trade happened hours after the Oilers-Penguins swap. With Hughes off the board, there’s reason to believe the NHL trade market could blow up. GMs will be looking to position players ahead of the roster freeze before Christmas. Moreover, teams will want to get pieces in before the Olympic break.
The three-week layoff could be a perfect time for new players to acclimate themselves to their new surroundings. So, getting deals done now until the end of January could make for a mind-bending month or so of trade activity.
So, that's how the Quinn Hughes trade affects the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs could now be in a position where, whatever Brad Treliving has been working on, could happen. That could mean bringing in another defenseman or forward(s). Perhaps we may see an underachiever like Matias Maccelli go out the door.
Perhaps Brandon Carlo may be on the move, despite his current injury status. The Maple Leafs could even target another insurance goalie, just in case.
The reality is that this could be the lead-up to a frenzy in the NHL trade market. The Skinner-Jarry trade seems to have ignited the market’s animal spirits. Now, Maple Leafs fans should keep an eye on the news wire because there could be some interesting news coming down the pipeline.