The Toronto Maple Leafs appear to be on their way to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the eighth consecutive time. The Leafs and their Atlantic Division rival, the Boston Bruins, would extend the longest active streaks for making the NHL playoffs should they both get there.
The Toronto Maple Leafs lack of postseason success, along with a core of star players who are mostly in their prime, brings added urgency to usher a title to Toronto. Not to mention a championship drought that you might have heard of.
There is a train of thought that any professional team with a legitimate chance of a title should use all of its resources to help its core of players win while they have the chance.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have multiple All-Stars in their lineup, some of whom are in contention for winning individual awards. Despite a loaded roster with star players like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly, there are multiple reasons why this edition of the Leafs should not be all in at the NHL trade deadline.
Available Players Are Not Worth the Leafs Departing With Their Limited Draft Capital or Top Prospects
A look at the top available players expected to be available at the trade deadline leaves much to be desired. On top of that, the Leafs don't have the future draft assets to throw into any deal.
The Leafs have no second-round picks for the next three years. They don't have a first-round pick in 2025. That leaves their first-round picks in 2024 and 2026 plus a bunch of third to seventh-round picks as trade bait.
Some of the more notable names that are available as the deadline approaches include Noah Hanifin and Jacob Markstrom all of the Calgary Flames. Juse Saros of the Nashville Predators, Marc Andre-Fleury of the Minnesota Wild, Jake Guentzel of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Matt Dumba of the Arizona Coyotes, and Frank Vatrano of the Anaheim Ducks are other significant names on the list.
Chris Tanev was connected to the Leafs until the Flames made a deal with the Dallas Stars. The return for Tanev was a second-round pick, a conditional pick in the third round, plus a prospect. This gives an idea of the potential market value moving forward towards the deadline.
Leafs general manager Brad Treliving's past connections to the Flames make it easy to connect the dots on a possible deal. A closer look at each of these names individually shows that it's not likely to happen.