The Toronto Maple Leafs made a lot of additions to their roster over the offseason, but according to general manager Brad Treliving they are certainly not done. He wants to make a deal.
Treliving has already been busy. He got centre Nicolas Roy in return for the sign-and-trade of Mitch Marner from the Vegas Golden Knights, acquired Dakota Joshua for basically nothing from the Vancouver Canucks, and bought extremely low on skilled playmaking winger Matias Maccelli. That's more action that most NHL teams were even able to come close to this summer. There is still more to be done, according to the Leafs general manager.
At the Leafs' media day, 24 hours before the team takes to the ice for the first day of training camp, Treliving was very open with the media about wanting to acquire a top-six forward and it's still something he would like to do.
Asked by @jonassiegel if adding a top-six forward is still a target, Leafs GM Treliving says, “Yeah.”
— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) September 17, 2025
“It’s not from a lack of trying. You’re always looking to try to improve your team. I think league-wide, it was a slower summer. . . We would like to add (a top-6 F).”
"It's not from a lack of trying," Treliving said of wanting to acquire a top-six forward. "You're always looking to try and improve your team. I think league-wide, it was a slower summer. ... We would like to add."
Treliving has reportedly been trying to make that sizeable addition this summer. With rumours spreading across the league of the Leafs being linked to everyone from Mika Zibanejad to Nazem Kadri -- whether or not they were ever engaged in any trade discussions is still up in the air. But the point stands that this Leafs team could use some help in the shape of another skilled forward.
It's not even the fact that they lost Mitch Marner, but when looking at the upper core of the forward group in Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies on the top line, and then John Tavares and William Nylander linked for the second line, Toronto could use another scorer to go with those players. Plus, it would help balance out the lineup which is full of more physically oriented players deeper in depth chart.
Now, who is Treliving eyeing up currently? Only time will tell. Maybe he doesn't even have specific players in mind but he will be keeping track of which teams drop below their expected point total a couple months into the season and see who that hypothetical team would be willing to trade. You never know who might just slip through the cracks.
This Leafs season is no doubt going to be an entertaining one.