The Toronto Maple Leafs can't afford to sit back and do nothing at the NHL trade deadline. However, their lack of draft picks and limited salary cap space won't make general manager Brad Treliving's job easy.
He needs to start trimming the dead weight from this roster and go all-in at the deadline if he wants the Toronto Maple Leafs to contend for the Stanley Cup. Otherwise, it will be another wasted season in the careers of Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and the aging John Tavares.
When you need more than one hand to count how many poor performers you have on your team, that's not a good thing.
The Leafs need a lot more from too many players, and it's time to demote or trade some of them to clear cap space for real change. If Treliving is to go all-in at the deadline, he'll need as much cap space as possible.
Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Trim Dead Weight and Go All-In
It will be next to impossible for Treliving to trim all the dead weight, but I would like to see him at least try. To think that the Leafs have a combined 36 goals and 23 assists for 59 points from Matthew Knies and Bobby McMann at a combined cap hit of $2.275 million, compared to three goals and six assists for nine points from David Kampf and Ryan Reaves at a combined $3.75 million.
(All stats from hockey-reference.com). (All salary cap information from puckpedia.com)
How can Treliving trim some (if not all) of the dead weight from the Leafs roster and still upgrade at the trade deadline?
If the Leafs are indeed interested in a center like Dylan Cozens ($7.1 million until 2027-28), they will need the Buffalo Sabres to take at least Max Domi ($3.75 million) and David Kampf ($2.4 million), which means the Leafs will also be forced to sweeten the pot to make this okay with the Sabres. Adding their 2026 first-round pick is a must, plus one of Easton Cowan or Fraser Minten seems likely.
I know it never feels right to trade away top prospects, but if your team's window to win a championship is now, you go all-in now. Yes, we don't know how well Cowan or Minten will be when they reach their full potential, but winning isn't easy, and sometimes you need to gamble big to find success. As the old saying goes, "Go big or go home," and that's exactly what the Leafs need to do. Leafs GM Brad Treliving needs to go big, or yet again, the Leafs will be going home early.