Brad Treliving deserves an apology.

The Leafs absolutely cooked on deadline day.

For a variety of reasons, that was good to see. Most importantly, it made our two-hour trade deadline special a lot of fun. Firstly, we kicked off the Friday edition of Leafs Morning Take by dissecting the Scott Laughton trade. We both really liked it. It addressed a specific need, and without question, the Oakville native will prove to be a strong addition to the forward crop.

Thanks to Tim Hortons, we monitored the very latest as we drew closer and closer to the 3 PM ET deadline. Additionally, Zack Phillips dropped by to give us some further perspective on everything transpiring trade-wise. In general, it was a busy last week for the Atlantic Division. Tampa, Florida, and Toronto all got much stronger. This is going to be a dog fight.

With minutes remaining, the Panthers acquired Brad Marchand from Boston, which obviously felt like a gut punch to Leafs Nation. That said, it’s the response by the Leafs that left our draws dropping. Out of nowhere, at the buzzer, the Leafs acquired Brandon Carlo from the rival Bruins. It cost them, but indisputably, it was a win-now move, something this organization should be committed to doing right now.

All in all, all three of us were very happy with the job Brad Treliving and company did. Yes, it stings losing Fraser Minten, Nikita Grebenkin, and multiple first round picks, but at the end of the day, this team’s trying to win now, not two years from now. For all intents and purposes, the Leafs pushed their chips to the middle, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Aside from the picks and prospects, they had to say bye to Ryan Reaves, Conor Timmins, and Connor Dewar. When push comes to shove, all three of those guys were replaceable.

At any rate, we’ll be back on Monday (11 AM ET) for a full dissection of tomorrow’s game in Colorado plus continued analysis of what turned out to be a very busy deadline for Toronto.

The stretch drive to the Stanley Cup Playoffs is officially here.

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