After weeks of speculation and rumours, another NHL trade deadline has come and gone. The Toronto Maple Leafs and other playoff-bound teams have geared up for the playoffs. According to general manager Brad Treliving when he spoke to the media, the Maple Leafs were looking to upgrade on defence, specifically on the right side and the centre position. The Maple Leafs have done exactly that by adding Scott Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers and Brandon Carlo from the Boston Bruins.
The Maple Leafs were also in on several other players, including Mikko Rantanen. However, those deals did not come to fruition; perhaps that was a good thing. Let’s take a look at the moves Treliving avoided, grade the moves that he made, and see what the roster looks like as we head into the playoffs.
Leafs moves that never happened
Brayden Schenn
The Maple Leafs were rumoured to be after the St. Louis Blues’ captain, Brayden Schenn, for a couple of weeks. There’s a lot to like with Schenn. Namely, he has a Stanley Cup winning pedigree and brings a level of intensity in the playoffs that people often criticize the Maple Leafs’ superstars for lacking.
However, the rumoured ask by Blue’s General Manager Doug Armstrong was significant: with a first-round pick, a top prospect such as Fraser Minten or Easton Cowan, a lesser prospect in Nikita Grebenkin, and an additional sweetener for the Blues or another team to eat part of Schenn’s salary.
It is not worth it to sell the farm to meet this absurd price for a 33-year-old centre with a high $6.5M AAV for the next three seasons. Fortunately, Treliving held his ground, and once Armstrong was not willing to budge on the asking price, Treliving pivoted to Laughton and Carlo instead.
Could you imagine the meltdown of Leafs Nation would have if Toronto spent all those assets on Schenn? Sure, he would address the third-line centre position, but the Maple Leafs would still have a hole in their top-four defence pairing. Furthermore, re-signing John Tavares after the season—who is better offensively than Schenn—would be harder to do.
Mikko Rantanen
The Mikko Rantanen trade was the biggest trade of the trade deadline by far and for obvious reasons. Big 6’0″ 215lbs first-line right-wingers do not come available often, let alone by the trade deadline. The Maple Leafs were reportedly in the Rantanen sweepstakes. Rantanen would have been a phenomenal boost to the Maple Leafs’ first or second line, especially with his track record of success in the playoffs.
The Maple Leafs reportedly offered Easton Cowan, Fraser Minten, and two first-round picks, with Rantanen being signed long-term. The Maple Leafs were willing to have the Hurricanes complete a sign and trade with the extension being an eight-year $13.125M to $13.75M AAV.
It is unclear whether Rantanen would have waived his no-movement clause. However, the Hurricanes decided to go with the Dallas Stars’ offer because the Hurricanes didn’t want to risk running into Rantanen and the Maple Leafs in the playoffs.
Perhaps this was a blessing in disguise because the Maple Leafs ended up signing Laughton and Carlo, which addressed two big needs. In addition, although it is a low risk, there is a risk that Rantanen would not produce the same way he did in Colorado with the Maple Leafs. In 13 games with the Hurricanes, Rantanen has two goals and four assists for six points. Not the elite production you would expect from a $13.5M forward.
Now, the argument could easily be made that the Maple Leafs’ top-six has more skill and firepower than the Hurricanes’ top-six. Nevertheless, Auston Matthews is not Nathan MacKinnon. Though it’s hard to deny that the Maple Leafs’ top-six, at least for this upcoming playoffs with Rantanen, would be the best it’s ever been.
The new Leafs on the roster
Let’s take a look at the flow of the Maple Leafs assets after the trade deadline:
| Assets Into the Organization | Assets Out of the Organization |
|---|---|
| Reese Johnson Pittsburgh 2025 fifth-round pick Brandon Carlo* Scott Laughton** Philadelphia’s 2027 sixth-round pick | Future considerations Conor Timmins Connor Dewar Fraser Minten Toronto 2026 first-round pick (Top five protected) Philadelphia’s 2025 fourth-round pick Nikita Grebenkin Toronto 2027 first-round pick (Top 10 protected) |
* BOS retains 15% of salary
** PHI retains 50% of salary
On the minor side, the loss of Dewar and Timmins is not earth-shattering and the Maple Leafs have options internally to replace them. The Maple Leafs received some later-round draft picks to replace the first-round picks and prospects leaving the organization. The Maple Leafs also received centreman Reese Johnson from the Minnesota Wild for future considerations… whatever that entails.
Johnson does have some NHL experience, scoring seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points in 144 games. His contract expires at the end of the season, and is likely a replacement for Minten on the Toronto Marlies for the rest of the season.
Obviously, the draft picks received and Johnson do not compare to the loss of Grebenkin, Minten, and the first-round picks. However, they are assets that can be used at the draft or put to use by our scouting staff.
The Maple Leafs, like all playoff teams, traded away futures for bona fide NHL players. It’s possible that Minten and Grebenkin can develop into NHL players, along with the two first-round draft picks. However, the Maple Leafs’ window is closing, and they need to start putting together deep playoff runs. Let’s take a look at the two key players brought into the organization.
Scott Laughton
The Maple Leafs needed to upgrade their third-line centre position. Laughton provides the kind of profile that the Maple Leafs need. Big, physical, and drives the net. Laughton can also play on the penalty kill. This is exactly the kind of player that you want in your bottom-six come playoff time.
Laughton is signed for another year after this season. With the Flyers retaining 50% of Laughton’s salary, this works out to a cap hit of $1.5M. This is excellent for a third-line centre, and allows the Maple Leafs more flexibility at the draft, in the offseason, and next trade deadline.
Between what Laughon brings, the salary retention by the Flyers, the term on Laughton’s contract, and the fact that the pick is top 10 protected in the event the Maple Leafs fall off a cliff, I would give this move a B+. Unfortunately, Grebenkin went along with the first-round pick, but given that it was a seller’s market yesterday, the Maple Leafs did well.
Rating: B+
Brandon Carlo
While the Carlo trade was down to the wire at yesterday’s deadline, it was the biggest move by Treliving. It was also probably the highest profile trade by Brad Treliving as general manager of the Maple Leafs. The massive 6’5″ 216lbs, right-handed defensive defenceman is an immediate upgrade in the top-four on the right-side. He will likely play with Morgan Rielly, which hopefully allows Rielly to focus on generating offence.
Like Laughton, Carlo comes with term and salary retention. Carlo is signed for another two years after this season with a $3.485M AAV. Making the Boston Bruins retain 15% of Carlo’s salary, a division rival no less, for this season and two more after is masterful work. Now, this isn’t without a loss. The Maple Leafs arguably lose their best prospect in the system in Minten, a first-round pick (top five protected) in 2027, and a fourth-round pick in 2025.
It takes quality to get quality. However, as stated, the Maple Leafs’ window is now and for the next three to four years. The Maple Leafs have a lot of key pieces locked up for the foreseeable future.
Rating: A
With the additions, let’s take a look at a possible playoff roster configuration
Leafs playoff roster
Here is a possible playoff roster with the trade deadline acquisitions.
Matthew Knies–Auston Matthews–Mitch Marner
Bobby McMan–John Tavares–William Nylander
Max Domi–Scott Laughton–Nicholas Robertson
Steven Lorentz–David Kampg–Calle Jarnkrok
Morgan Rielly–Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe–Chris Tanev
Oliver Ekman-Larsson–Simon Benoit
Anthony Stolarz
Joseph Woll
Craig Berube and the coaching staff have 20 games left to figure out the chemistry with the additions. But this lineup looks a lot more dangerous than it did before the trade deadline, especially on the back-end.
How many assets have the Maple Leafs spent over the years on third-pairing defencemen to play with Morgan Rielly? There has been Luke Schenn, Ilya Lyubushkin, twice. Other defenders acquired to play third-pairing minutes included Mark Giordano, Joel Edmundson and Zach Bogosian. Carlo is by far a massive upgrade on all the names listed, and likely pushed Oliver Ekman-Larsson down to the third pairing.
Up front, the third line is more defensively responsible and meaner. Max Domi can play a pest game, and Laughton is physical. Laughton can dig out the puck for Domi, Domi can thread passes to Robertson, and Robertson can score the goals.
The Leafs have geared up
Time will tell how the additions will mesh with the existing roster, but on the surface, Treliving did a very good job at the trade deadline. I’d give Treliving an A rating on his deadline moves. The Maple Leafs play on Saturday against another team that made massive changes to their roster over the last couple months, the Colorado Avalanche. Both Carlo and Laughton are expected to play in today’s game in what will surely be a playoff style game.
