Many have settled on the fact that the Toronto Maple Leafs need a third-line centre at the deadline, and many people also agree that the sky is blue and oxygen is fun to breathe.
With that being said, Treliving is going to need to have one of the most active deadlines of his career to fill all the needs of this Toronto Maple Leafs team.
Treliving has been very quiet at the trade deadline throughout his career. Last year, he continued that trend by only acquiring Connor Dewar late in the day in exchange for Dmitry Ovchinnikov as well as a fourth-round pick in the 2026 draft. It was a disgusting failure of a day and it cost the Leafs a chance to advance in the playoffs.
This year not only does he need to trade for a centre, but this team also needs a defenseman.
Treliving Needs to be in the Market for a Defenseman
The Leafs have struggled all year to get scoring from their blue line, and that is because they essentially only have a single blue-liner with above average offensive abilities. (stats from PuckPedia.com).
The Leafs currently rank 23rd in the league in points from defensemen this season with 84 points. If this team is going to make a run, they need more from this blue line when it comes to scoring (stat from Statmuse.com).
At the beginning of the year, I was surprised by the performance of Connor Timmins. He was playing great, and I thought maybe he could be a solid offensive option for this team, but his play has dropped off. He has some serious defensive lapses at times, and he doesn't play enough to be a big factor offensively.
Tanev and McCabe are great but don't bring much offensive upside and Oliver Ekman-Larsson has shown he has offensive capability in his career, but not too much in the last couple of years.
I would love to see Treliving make a move for an offensive defenseman at this trade deadline. The Leafs entire inability to score can be traced to their blue-line's below-average puck moving skills.
The market isn't as deep when it comes to available defensemen, which is normal, but some options could be Bowen Byram from Buffalo or Erik Karlsson from Pittsburgh. Karlsson carries some risk, but if Pittsburgh retained some salary, it's at least an option.
Adding one of these guys wouldn't just add offensive upside to the blue line, but it would also make it easier for the forward core in the playoffs. Having more guys who can move the puck out of the defensive zone quicker gets the puck to the stars on this team in transition.
The Leafs need a better blue-line, they need one defenseman, maybe two. They need a centre, and could use another scoring winger. They likely aren't getting everything they need, but they better get moving.