As we head into the last hours before yet another NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brad Treliving needs to go and do something that blows the doors down.
There has been talk about the Toronto Maple Leafs potentially trading any of Fraser Minten, Easton Cowan, Ben Danford or their 2026 first round pick, but it seems like in all these mock trades the Leafs are only acquiring depth pieces.
Instead of trading each of these player in separate moves, Treliving would be better off packaging some or all of these assets to get a legitimate game changer and the best option may be down the Queen Elizabeth Way in Buffalo with Sabres center Tage Thompson.
There is nothing out there to say that Sabres General Manager Kevyn Adams is shopping his 6'6" center or is even entertaining offers, but that doesn't mean Treliving can't make an offer that forces his divisional rival to strongly contemplate the offer.
The Top Target for Toronto Maple Leafs Should be Tage Thompson
Thompson would fill so many holes and question marks that the Maple Leafs have this season and going forward. The former first round pick of the St. Louis Blues would immediately allow the Maple Leafs to have three centers down the middle that would be scoring threats. He is in year two of a seven year deal at just $7.14 million cap hit which matches with the entire prime of Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Mitch Marner.
The Arizona native is just two seasons from scoring 47-goals and 94-points; and despite an injury earlier this season he is back on pace for another 40-goal season.
What Thompson also gives you is the second line center for the next half decade which will help the Maple Leafs take control over any contract negotiations with former captain John Tavares who is set to hit free agency. There are rumblings, Tavares wants a three-year deal in the same dollar amount Thompson is currently making and by acquiring the Sabres forward you can play hardball with Tavares and send him a $4 Million take or leave it offer.
The question is what do you offer up to the Buffalo Sabres to get Adams to move off of his top forward? All of them, offer up Minten, Danford, Cowan and the first round pick to get the deal done.
None of those players will ever bring the impact that Thompson would show this season and years to come. The cupboards would be emptied by making this deal, which just means the pressure would be put on the scouting staff. With the Maple Leafs already having secured their high end talent in Thompson, Nylander and Matthews (as well as potentially Marner ) scouting staff just needs to round out the roster. Which means they need to continue to find the undrafted Bobby McMann's in college, the Matthew Knie's in the second round, the Pontus Holmberg's in the sixth round and the Michael Bunting's in free agency.
The bigger question is how does Brad Treliving not doing everything to claw this player out of Buffalo.