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The Leafs need to pounce on a weak Atlantic Division and go all-in
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Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Filipe Dimas
Jan 12, 2025, 07:00 ESTUpdated: Jan 12, 2025, 01:59 EST
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As the NHL’s trade deadline approaches, fans and commentators everywhere are putting together wishlists for their favourite team’s potential acquisitions. For the Toronto Maple Leafs, the most common addition to these lists seems to be a third-line centre or bottom-pairing defenceman. This line of thinking poses a serious problem.
As it stands, the Toronto Maple Leafs are far too talented for the target to be this low, especially when factoring in how weak the Eastern Conference appears to be compared to previous seasons. 
A team sitting atop their division hoping to bolster their roster by adding a third liner is the equivalent of an A-list actor hoping to bolster their resume by doing Shakespeare in the Park. Everyone loves a gritty performance of Hamlet, but when the end goal is being named the best in the world, it’s unlikely to be what puts you over the top.
For the Toronto Maple Leafs, they should be looking to go all in this season. With home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs being a very real possibility, Toronto hasn’t been in a better position to make a deep playoff run since the 2021 playoffs when they topped the North Division. Much like that season, the path to the finals seems wide open, and one can only hope the team learned a harsh lesson about complacency since then. Though the thought that many believe this team is only a bottom-of-the-lineup player away from being complete suggests that plenty of complacency may still be lurking in the shadows.
Halfway through the season, both Eastern wild card playoff spots and the third spot in the Atlantic seem wide open for the taking, with single-digit points separating the third-in-division Tampa Bay Lightning from the last-place Buffalo Sabres. It’s anyone’s guess who Toronto’s first-round opponent will be, but on paper, the matchup should be far easier than it has been in recent memory.
With less than two months to go until the trade deadline, Brad Treliving and co. should already be working the phones trying to find out who the most talented players available are, and then do whatever it takes to get them. Another elite winger to play alongside Tavares and Nylander would allow Pacioretty to slide down and bring his strong forechecking and goal-scoring ability to a disruptor energy line alongside Domi and McMann. 
If Toronto does decide to trade for a centre, then it shouldn’t be your usual grinder 3C. The player coming in should be a potential top-six centre that can lead the second power play unit while Matthews, Marner, Tavares, and Nylander are together on the first. 
Nick Schmaltz and Jason Zucker are two names to keep an eye on as the deadline approaches, with both players putting together solid numbers on bad teams – each is on pace for over 60 points this season despite a lack of talent around them. As a centre with an extra year of term beyond this one, Schmaltz would be the more expensive piece, but either of these offensive threats being added to the roster would completely change the way teams play their matchups against Toronto, especially while on the penalty kill.
These are just two names of players that are likely to be available, but many of the best trades come from unexpected places. If a point-per-game, game-breaking type forward has even a small chance of being available for trade, the Maple Leafs should be ready to pounce on the opportunity and make the selling team an offer they can’t possibly refuse.
As talented as Toronto’s defensive corps has been this season, adding another top-4 defenceman is another avenue towards considerable improvement. Such an acquisition would not only give Toronto an insurance plan in case of injury but also provide some of the league’s best depth when healthy, with someone like Oliver Ekman-Larsson or Jake McCabe being a matchup nightmare for opponents on Toronto’s third pairing.
For the Maple Leafs, the end goal is winning a Stanley Cup, and anything less than that achievement should be considered a failure. With the team sitting atop the standings, and a seemingly weak Eastern Conference being all that stands between the franchise and their first finals appearance in over 50 years, the window has never been wider open. However, as any competitor will tell you, thinking you’re good enough is the first step towards failure. Champions are always striving to be better than they were yesterday. On this team, that starts with roster construction and the kind of big trade deadline splashes that would bring Toronto from one of the contenders to league favourites.
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