With the NHL trade deadline looming this coming Friday, the Toronto Maple Leafs have a final chance to acquire talent that has been missing all season long and add pieces that can hopefully push them over the edge to lift the Stanely Cup in June.
Heading into Friday's deadline, questions surrounding how aggressive Maple Leaf general manager Brad Treliving will be have circulated for the past few weeks, and rightfully so. For what seems like all season, the Leafs have been trading places with division rival Florida Panthers for the number one seed in the Atlantic game after game in what has been a wide-open Eastern Conference.
Bolstering this team for the final stretch could also decide whether you face a team like the red-hot Tampa Bay Lighting or fringe teams like Columbus and Detroit; winning the Atlantic would make a deep playoff run significantly easier for this group.
So when you wonder if and when Treliving should bolster a part of this Leafs team, the answer should be a definitive yes.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Make a Move - Cannot Stand Pat
According to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, the Leaf's prospect pool ranks 28th in the league, but they do have some assets they can part with. Playing it safe and holding onto players for later isn't a viable strategy for a competitive team in a Cap League - when you're competitive, it's imperative that you do everything you can to win.
Let's be honest: For a franchise that's had a cup drought for close to 60 years now, how could it get any worse? Go all in and try to bolster this team as well as you can, and if it doesn't work out in the playoffs, you're stuck with yet another first-round exit at worst, which we're accustomed to by now.
If the Leafs are content with the way his team is structured heading into the post-season, then so be it, but their rivals are not standing pat and I think doing so would be a mistake. The Panthers already won last year, but have already shown that they'll be aggressive in trying to win again with last week's Seth Jones trade.
If giving up prospects and draft capital is wrong, then think of this: the Jones trade was made by a general manager whose team just won the cup, and also gave up significant pieces of their future as Spencer Knight, who is just 23 years old, was set to be their goaltender of the future, and their 2027 first-rounder signifies that they won't be selecting in the first round until 2028.
If they don't acquire any picks from now until the deadline, which seems that way with Zito's all-in approach, the Panthers won't be on the draft board until the fourth round of this year's draft. The Panthers have three picks outside of the first round until 2028, and it's paid off as they're coming off a successful cup run and are still one of the premiere teams in the NHL.
The time to win for this Leafs team is now; William Nylander is putting pucks in the back of the net like he's never done before, as he's got 35 goals this season, and we're still only at the 60-game mark. Mitch Marner is having a career year and could flirt with the 100-point mark and may even break it. You have the best goal-scorer in the league, who's in a slump and could start scoring like his old self at any moment. You have one of if not the best goalie tandems in the league, and when was the last time you were able to say that, let alone be confident in a leaf netminder?
The Leafs shouldn't be quiet at this year's deadline because their division rivals won't be. They must acquire that third-line center and depth defenseman because what else do they have to lose? The cup drought going another year? The defending cup champions have sacrificed so much of their future, but it's paid off and the Leafs must do the same.