The Toronto Maple Leafs need to make a splash but who are their top three biggest trade assets?
It's no secret that the Toronto Maple Leafs are still looking for a top-six winger, but team's don't give them away for free. As a result, who are the Leafs willing to trade to acquire that asset?
Over the past few years, the Leafs have been very friendly with trading draft picks and prospects. As much as I like Brandon Carlo and his contract, would the Leafs have been better off with Fraser Minten and a first-round pick? Carlo is the better asset that helps them now, but what if they held off? It feels like they could have acquired a top-six forward by trading Minten and a first-round pick this offseason, and still would have had a solid defensive-core.
With minimal prospects and draft picks in the pipeline now that they've traded most of them, let's see who the top three trade assets are for the Leafs.
No. 3: Ben Danford
The No. 31 overall draft pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft has turned into the Leafs best defensive prospect and has been gaining a lot of buzz lately, as he looks primed to make Team Canada's World Junior roster this year. I don't think fans cared as much about the pick because his stats didn't jump off the page, but that's solely because he's a defensive-first defenseman.
The Leafs defense is set up for well for the next few years so there could be a chance that they would move on from Danford to improve the roster now, but it's also hard to part ways with a big right-shot shutdown defenseman. If the Leafs dangled Danford's name out there, they would definitely be able to acquire a solid talent in return and his stock is only going to rise if he/when he makes Team Canada.
No. 2: First-Round Pick (2028)
It's very depressing that the Leafs traded thier 2026 and 2027 first-round picks away just to acquire Brandon Carlo and Scott Laughton, but here we are. If you're the Tampa Bay Lightning, it's okay to trade a first-round pick for someone like Barclay Goodrow because they resulted in a Stanley Cup, but since the Leafs have never made it past the second round, those trades look terrible right now.
However, I do still think that their 2028 first-round pick is their second most valuable asset because it's quite possible that the Leafs stink by then. Auston Matthews' contract expires right before that draft, so if the team hasn't made any progress by then, maybe 2028 is the start of a rebuild and that team who acquired a first-round pick could be looking at a top-10 pick instead of what we all hope is the No. 32 overall pick.
No. 1: Easton Cowan
The former OHL MVP and Memorial Champion is not only the Leafs best trade asset, but he's one of the best prospects in hockey right now. In a perfect world, Cowan can jump into the Leafs top-line, score 20 goals and be considered a Calder Trophy nominee, or worst-case he's the next Nick Robertson.
Based on his size and skillset, I do think he has a much better chance to succeed than Robertson has thus far, but with that being said, if the Leafs wanted to get a deal done for a legitimate NHLer, Cowan would be the asset that could help them acquire such player. I think the fanbase would riot if they didn't give Cowan a chance with the Leafs, but a business case could be made that trading now makes more sense than keeping him, if it meant acquiring a top-six scorer to replace Mitch Marner.