The NHL's annual Trade Deadline came and went, and now the Toronto Maple Leafs are all set for the post season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs paid a high price to acquire a 3C in Scott Laughton, and a right-handed 6'6" second-pairing defenseman in Brandon Carlo. They are now a much better team than they were the last time they played.
The question is, did they do enough to get better and give themselves a shot at the Stanley Cup? I don't beleive that they did. While this isn't the full on organizational failure that last year's deadline was, the Leafs still added less than other teams who have already won more than they have in the playoffs.
The fact is, the Lightning and the Panthers are the two teams the Leafs are most concerned about, and both of those teams had great Trade Deadlines that were far superior to what the Leafs did. The Lightning added Yanni Gourde, who is better than Laughton and they added Oliver Bjorkstrand who is better than both of them. The Panthers added Brad Marchand and Seth Jones.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Are All-Set for Playoff Run After Trade Deadline
That said, the Leafs deadline wasn't without value - they filled some of their needs and they were already a pretty good team to start with - but it's hard to be excited when other teams are adding Mikko Rantanen. I would consider this a bit of a disappointment, but not an outright disaster. I think the Leafs could have done more, but what they did do wasn't bad.
Not only did the Leafs have a disappointing Trade Deadline, but they just had a bad week overall.
On Sunday they played terribly against the San Jose Sharks and though they somehow managed to get an overtime point, it was a bad game against a terrible team.
On Wednesday they played one of their worst games of the season against the Golden Knights, and they have been off ever since.
By only getting one out of a possible four points this week, the Leafs were passed by the Florida Panthers, although the Leafs are just two points out with a game-in-hand and have won three more regulation games than they have.
The importance of winning the Atlantic Division cannot be overstated. The Leafs have a very good chance of making it to the Conference Finals if they have to start against a wildcard team and then play whoever survives between Tampa vs Florida.
The Leafs chances of making it that far if they have to start against either Tampa or Florida are drastically reduced to the point where winning the Atlantic division is likely the single biggest factor in deciding who will represent the East in the Stanley Cup Finals.
After yesterday's additions, the Leafs are no better positioned to win the Atlantic. They recently went on a 9-1 run and failed to pick up any points in the standings because Tampa and Florida went on similar runs at the exact same time, and both teams had better Trade Deadlines.
Overall, the Leafs deadline was fine but not spectacular. Ultimately, they played it safe and considering what they spent, it's kind of nuts they didn't get players with more upside. I give their overall Trade Deadline performance a C-.