The Toronto Maple Leafs traded away Scott Laughton, Nic Roy and Bobby McMann at the trade deadline this year, but the returns were insignificant.
After acquiring a conditional first-round pick for Roy, it felt like GM Brad Treliving was cooking. Nobody saw that type of return for him in the works, so if that was the market for Roy, another few firsts seemed imminent for Laughton, McMann or even Oliver Ekman-Larsson, right?
Unfortunately that wasn't the case as the Leafs were able to squeeze a second, third and fourth round pick in exchange for Laughton and McMann, then never traded Ekman-Larsson.
Prior to the deadline, many people pointed towards the Boston Bruins 2025 NHL trade deadline as the north star for what Toronto should do. They could re-tool their roster, acquire some quality picks, prospects and NHLers and start fresh next year. Instead, the team acquired a couple draft picks that won't be NHL ready most likely until 2030.
Last season, the Bruins were able to acquire two NHL ready players in Fraser Minten, Casey Middlestadt, in addition to a top-five first-round pick and a few other draft picks. Unforutnately, the Leafs haul for their players isn't anywhere close to that.
Now that the NHL trade deadline has came and went, it's clear that this organization needs to do a ton of heavy lifting in the offseason. It's never easy to make big splashes mid-season, but instead, they need to get to work and rebuild this franchise in the offseason.
Leafs deserve a failing grade at this year's trade deadline
The Leafs roster is not very good, but they're good enough to be in no-man's land right now. What I mean by that, is that they'll most likely finish between 8-16 in the standings next year, making it impossible to find a generational talent through the NHL Draft, which is the worst place to be.
With their first-round pick owed to Boston this year (if it falls outside the top-five) and thier 2027 first-round pick owed to Philadelphia, it's incredibly disapointing that the Leafs won't have a top pick for the next two years.
They were able to acquire Coloardo's first-round pick, but it's top-10 protected, so it won't be low enough to get a star, which is upsetting.
This trade deadline could have been the start of something special in Toronto and a fresh new start, but it feels like they didn't get enough assets for their top players, which is very dissapointing. If MLSE thinks this team is still a contender, they're lying to themselves, so hopefully they have something up their sleeve in the offseason, because this trade deadline was a dud.