The Toronto Maple Leafs entered the trade deadline in a unique position to them. They are sellers. No shipping out first or top prospects, instead they could optimistically look at this as a one year blip and commit to acquiring futures and creating salary cap flexibility for the 2026-27 season. Some progress was made but in a frustrating season, cutting deeper would always hold the greatest appeal, as such it’s hard to exceed expectations for anyone or even meet the expectations of the most frustrated fanbase.

That said, in bite sized trade by trade reviews, there isn’t a lot to be upset about. Here’s a look at Brad Treliving’s deadline:

Roy trade

It’s hard not to approve of this deal. The Maple Leafs pick up a 2027 1st which gives the team a bit of flexibility to use the pick as trade currency or to eventually start refilling their shallow prospect pool. The 2026 5th also helps keep the Maple Leafs a little more active on the second day of the draft this year, which is a plus, and without anyone coming back, the Maple Leafs have an additional $3M of cap space to utilize at the trade deadline and reallocate towards more significant needs next season.

With Roy, the main thing was not to lose him for the sake of making a trade. He’s a good player that could help the Leafs in 2026-27, but the value of return is there and now the Marner deal looks like the Leafs pulled off the sign and trade for a 2027 1st, 2026 5th, and a rental year of Nic Roy. As someone who regularly criticizes Brad Treliving, this deal gets a pass.

In the meantime, this also opens the door to see more of Jacob Quillan which isn’t a bad thing either.

McMann trade

No one is going to say that they went into the trade deadline with a 2nd (in 2027) and a 4th (2026) for Bobby McMann was their targeted return. That was mismanaged and still doesn’t address the fact that the Leafs need a higher pick in the 2026 draft.

Avoiding the incoming $5M AAV for McMann is also a relief and getting something when the alternative is nothing is fine.

McMann leaving means that there is regular ice time available for Easton Cowan and opportunities on the powerplay and the top six as well. The Leafs giving Cowan a bigger role as a result of this trade might be a silver lining.

Laughton trade

This is a hard one to swallow. The Kings are sitting on multiple second rounders in 2026 and Brad Treliving couldn’t get them to part with one (unless the Kings make the playoffs.)

The Leafs also spent a 1st and Nikita Grebenkin on Laughton last year only to see him net a 3rd round return this season.

The Leafs absolutely overpaid last season, Laughton came with term, salary was retained, and there were delusions that Laughton could be a third line center and none of that existed this season, so it was never going to be identical, but a third is low.

I guess Laughton’s next contract will help identify why it was important for the Leafs to move on from him for whatever they could get but the return looks light and what seems like an open door to put Max Domi back at centre is not something to be excited about.

Verdict

Not nearly good enough. The Leafs won their division last season and now are missing the playoffs. There was legitimate interest in a number of Leafs players and plenty of similar players to who the Leafs were shopping were sent out for handsome returns.

Add to that, the Maple Leafs had no interest in spending MLSE’s money for the greater good. They are wrapping up the trade deadline with cap space. Why? I don’t know how anyone can look at that Jason Dickinson trade between the Blackhawks and Oilers and not see how Andrew Mangiapane would be a fit on the Maple Leafs and Toronto could have easily picked up an additional first? What is Brad Treliving saving that cap space for?

It seems like time was mismanaged on deadline day and there was too much time spent on Bobby McMann and as a result the Leafs didn’t pursue other options available to them. I’m reminded of the criticism that the Flames had of Brad Treliving that he doesn’t use his assistant GMs effectively and doesn’t empower decision making or at the very least value their recommendations. This is just speculation, but I wonder if on the busiest trading day of the year if Brad Treliving was trying to do it all himself and handcuffed the Leafs from other avenues that might have been more beneficial than a 2nd and a 4th.

Most notably, there is nothing done that creates some excitement or leads one to believe that things will be different in 2026-27.

There are plenty of sellers that put up worse efforts but that’s a limited source of comfort. If Brad Treliving was auditioning for keeping his job past April, he seemed to come up short.

What next?

There’s a lot that needs to come next and a lot of big questions but there are a few things that need to happen.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson still needs to be traded while his value is high. He wants to be a Leaf. Cool. Me too. That doesn’t mean that either of us should be and the Leafs need to sell high on a defenceman that isn’t going to move the bar for them much longer. He may no longer fetch a first or second round pick, but avoiding the negative value like he brought to the table in 2024-25 needs its risk mitigated.
Put Max Domi in situations he’ll be successful in during the remaining games. If the Leafs can create the illusion that Domi is a 50-point player that can play centre and is priced under $4M AAV, he too will be a worthwhile asset to move in the offseason as a sell high player.
Speaking of putting players in positions to be successful, the same applies to Brandon Carlo and Dakota Joshua. Not so much because they should be moved in the offseason, they shouldn’t, but they are the players that the Leafs need to find meaningful roles on the club and if things haven’t turned around by this time next season, they are best candidates to be sold in March 2027.

Beyond that, there should be a lot of tougher conversations taking place with players with no movement clauses, and Keith Pelley needs to quickly confirm his hockey operations org chart. If the plan is to have a President of Hockey Operations, they need to be in place yesterday. The sooner a GM is confirmed the better, and as coaching turnover season starts in the middle of April, there needs to be someone ready to pull the trigger on a new coach. (A Craig Berube departure seems like a given between now and next season.)

The work may have started at the deadline but there is a lot left to do if this is a quick turnaround. If the Leafs see this as a more terminal issue with this roster, I guess I understand the lack of urgency we saw.

PRESENTED BY THE DAILY FACEOFF TRADE DEADLINE SPECIAL

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