The NHL trade deadline is tomorrow, and the Toronto Maple Leafs have yet to make a trade as we inch closer to the playoffs. It’s expected that the Maple Leafs will pick up a third-line centre and a depth defencemen, but haven’t been linked to any big names, except Brayden Schenn.
However, the Maple Leafs likely won’t pay the ridiculous cost for Schenn, and that is a good thing. I doubt that the Maple Leafs are willing to part with Fraser Minten, Easton Cowan, Ben Danford, or other highly touted prospects unless there is a significant deal. Therefore, going the other way is going to have to be some combination of draft picks and roster players.
Let’s take a look at the value of some of the potential roster players that could be traded and who the Maple Leafs should keep.
Nicholas Robertson
It has felt like Nicholas Robertson has been on the Maple Leafs for a while, however, he only has 140 NHL regular season games and 10 playoff games under his belt. Robertson has largely stayed healthy over the last two years despite injuries that derailed his early career.
Out of all the roster players that could realistically be traded, Robertson is probably one of the more attractive pieces. He is only 23 years old and is a natural goal scorer. Though, he is having a bit of an off year point-wise. Robertson has scored only 11 goals and six assists for 17 points in 53 games. Last season, he had 14 goals and 13 assists for 17 points in 56 games.
That being said, Robertson’s defensive game has improved under Craig Berube this season, and it’s what kept him in the lineup whenever he went long stretches without scoring. While he still makes defensive mistakes, he has clearly put in the work to improve that part of his game.
However, Robertson has yet to break out offensively in the playoffs. In the six playoff games that he played last season against the Boston Bruins, he didn’t record a single point. One of the Maple Leafs’ biggest issues is that they cannot score in the playoffs. If the Maple Leafs moved on from Robertson, would he be missed?
Max Domi
Max Domi re-signed with the Maple Leafs this past offseason on a four-year, $3.75M AAV deal. What fans love about Domi is that he’s passionate, and he clearly bleeds blue and white. He plays a “pest” kind of game and is also a playmaker who can be creative with passing.
However, his biggest strength is also his biggest weakness. There have been numerous times where he should shoot the puck but elected to pass instead. His pass-first mentality has resulted in scoring four goals and 20 assists for 24 points in 53 games this season.
The other problem is that while he can play centre, he is much better as a winger. Like Robertson, Domi tends not to be as defensively responsible as you would like for a centreman. While the third line of Bobby McMann–Max Domi–Nicholas Robertson has been better defensively since the 4 Nations: Face-Off, do we feel confident with this line in the playoffs?
Speaking of the playoffs, his production in last year’s playoffs looks decent at face value. He scored one goal and three assists for four points in seven games. However, that is from playing with Auston Matthews on the first line. The Maple Leafs are looking for a bottom-six that can score come playoffs.
The other guys
The Maple Leafs have other players that are collecting dead cap space in David Kampf, Calle Jarnkrok, and Ryan Reaves. These players collectively work out to a cap hit of $5.85M. You could arguably throw in Simon Benoit or Connor Timmins, which brings the collective cap hit to $7M.
I should say that I wouldn’t expect the fourth line to score five goals a game in the playoffs. However, as we know, the Maple Leafs need to generate more offence come playoffs, and this collection of players has shown that they don’t produce that much offensively.
The challenge becomes: what value do these players have? Kampf is a proven penalty killer, while Jarnkrok just returned from an injury. Jarnkrok has historically provided secondary scoring for the Maple Leafs during the regular season, and every team could use a depth defenceman. It’s not that these players do not have value; the question becomes whether there is realistically a package that could involve some of these players.
What should the Maple Leafs do?
Out of all the players mentioned, if you can keep Robertson while adding a third-line centre to make that third-line more cohesive defensively, then you do it. Robertson is only 23 years old, and clearly has bought into Berube’s system. He is also a goal scorer, and those don’t exactly grow on trees. Hopefully, there’s chemistry between him and the new third-line centre that can unlock a playoff goal scorer.
However, as stated before, Robertson probably holds the most value unless there’s an appetite to trade Bobby McMann. But that is highly unlikely unless there’s a big-name player involved in a trade. And if that’s the case, teams would likely want one or more of the Maple Leafs’ top prospects instead.
The Maple Leafs are in a weird spot. On the one hand, the core group of players has not shown that they deserve to spend the farm to bolster their playoff lineup. The biggest trade deadline in recent Maple Leafs memory with this core was the 2022–23 deadline that involved obtaining Jake McCabe, Sam Lafferty, Ryan O’Reilly, and Noel Acciari. This deadline won the Maple Leafs one round, and then they got smacked by the Florida Panthers in the second round.
On the other hand, both Mitch Marner and John Tavares need new contracts at the end of the season, and Auston Matthews and William Nylander are in their prime. The Maple Leafs should be all in to capitalize on probably the most skilled team in franchise history.
Brad Treliving has his work cut out for him over the next day before the trade deadline. What roster players do you think the Maple Leafs should move? Should they go big or go home? Leave a comment below!
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