The Toronto Maple Leafs have until 3 PM to improve their team.
So far, almost ever Cup Contender has made their roster significantly better. The Toronto Maple Leafs might have made their roster worse by trading for Ilya Lyubushkin and Joel Edmundson, but they certainly haven't made it better.
And the names being rumored are not encouraging. Lars Eller? Seriously? That must be someone's idea of a joke when other teams are adding Casey Mittlestadt and Jake Guentzel.
The Leafs have assets to trade if they want to improve. The idea that "the cupboard is bare" is factually incorrect. The Leafs even added a first round pick last year. They have several top prospects and lots of draft picks to trade, if they want to.
Brad Treliving and Co. Failing Miserably but There's Still Time to Improve
Next year's 1st is gone, but they still have this year's. They have no second round picks for the next three years, but that shouldn't stop them from getting creative. Draft picks are extremely overrated when you're on the verge of winning.
If the Leafs don't add a significant upgrade - a player who is a star - then this stands to go down as one of the biggest missed opportunities in franchise history.
When you have a 26 year-old Auston Matthews (not to mention similarly aged Nylander and Marner) on your team, you do EVERYTHING it takes to take advantage of that fact. You do not save picks for the future. What are we even doing here?
The Leafs cannot think they have a chance to win the Stanley Cup with their current roster. They need a goalie. They need at least one, maybe two defenseman who are better than what they have. TJ Brodie is done. Ilya Lyubushkin is a waiver-wire pickup and Joel Edmundson should be in the AHL.
Since being hired its' been one mistake after another for Brad Treliving who is trending towards the popularity level of John Ferguson Jr and Gord Stellick.
That said, all it would take is one major upgrade before this afternoon to completely turn around his tenure. The Leafs have the most expensive fourth line in hockey, they have the least mobile blue-line, they have the worst goalies among contenders, and using Max Domi as their second-line centre seems like a joke.
The trade deadline and the season is teetering on the brink of disaster.
Brad Treliving and the Toronto Maple Leafs have four hours to course correct before it's too late.