Making a case for the Leafs avoiding all of the high-priced targets at this year's deadline
There's been a lot of discussion in recent weeks about what the Toronto Maple Leafs should do ahead of the trade deadline, which now sits less than 2 weeks away, on March 8th. The options are as you might imagine; sell the farm and buy big, stand pat and don't do anything, or make a few minor tweaks without breaking the bank.
It's tough to say what the Leafs will do, especially in light of their active 6-game win streak. Playing as well as they have, it might give GM Brad Treliving extra motivation to pull the trigger on a high profile trade for a chance at a Cup this season. How they fair against Colorado tonight and Vegas on February 27th may give us a clearer picture of what to expect.
While some are major proponents of swinging for the fences and "going all-in", parting with large packages of picks and prospects for the best available player, others, such as freelance hockey writer Ken Campbell, are of the mindset that more minor roster tweaks is usually the more successful route.
Last deadline, the Vegas Golden Knights brought in only Jonathan Quick, Ivan Barbashev, Teddy Blueger, and Dysin Mayo. Meanwhile, the Leafs brought in Ryan O'Reilly, Jake McCabe, Noel Acciari, Erik Gustafsson, Luke Schenn and Sam Lafferty. We all know how that worked out.
Campbell revealed this week that he sees contending teams being what they are long before the deadline. If a team is very good prior to the deadline, major changes usually aren't needed to push them over the top. Instead, teams like Vegas and Colorado have simply augmented their already strong cores to help them win.
While everyone is clamoring for the Leafs to swing big at the deadline and go for a Noah Hanifin, a Chris Tanev or even a larger piece, perhaps the best recipe for success would be to not tweak too much and just try to best accentuate the current core with some more low-key advantageous adds. Campbell listed the likes of Scott Laughton, Nic Dowd and Jordan Greenway, just to name a few.
I'd still enjoy one of the sexier names landing in Toronto, but if this Leafs team is serious about competing, they may already have most of what they need to get the job done, though I don't think you'll find too many people who would argue against adding a defenseman.
| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 24 | 623 ANSWERS Making a case for the Leafs avoiding all of the high-priced targets at this year's deadline Should the Toronto Maple Leafs swing big at the deadline or go after smarter pieces to augment the core? | ||
| Go big or go home | 164 | 26.3 % |
| Stick to smaller tweaks | 256 | 41.1 % |
| One big name, one under the radar name | 203 | 32.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
