Leafs GM Brad Treliving Takes Bold New Approach to This Year's Trade Deadline
The Maple Leafs need to make a deal this trade deadline, but Brad Treliving may take a unique way of doing this in order to bring in exactly who the team needs.
Normally when an NHL needs to make a deal, they either jump right away and figure out exactly the player needed and pick him up hastily. Other times, teams are left waiting too long to make and move which unfortunately ends up either leaving them with no player at all, or worse; the wrong fit.
But for Brad Treliving, he knows that a deal needs to be done, and the pressure from not only ownership to win a Cup but the immense fan expectations especially this season; they have no excuses in fans' minds, so he might decide to try and make everyone happy.
Toronto's Immense Success Increases Need For A Trade To Help Playoff Push
It's odd to say that a team that's succeeding needs help, but it's not exactly the full story.
Toronto has been great this season yes, but they have had too many inconsistencies with their third-line, and while they have a suitable trio, the team knows they need to add some stability.
Which is why Toronto might be willing to make a statement when it comes to a deal not only to show other teams they mean business, but they want to make sure the person they add gives them the best chance to win on any given night.
There are a lot of names that the Leafs could go after, but if they wanted to make a bigger splash to acquire a name like Brock Nelson, Yanni Gourde, or Mika Zibanejad they have the pieces.
Without a 2025 first-rounder, if the window to win is now, they should really think of packaging a bundle of draft assets.
Adding the stable pivot Toronto has needed pretty much all season would give Crag Berube a lot of relief when it comes to his lineup structure and perhaps wouldn't need to be making so many changes each game.
The team has 3/4 of their lines figured out, and making the third better needs to be a priority.
Toronto still needs to figure out the Nick Robertson situation, so if they were able to package him and a bunch of picks for a third-line center, he can take charge with Max Domi and Bobby McMann on the wings and create a speedy, aggressive scoring threat that doesn't sacrifice on defense.
It will be interesting to see how Brad Treliving goes about a trade, but one thing is for certain: If he doesn't make a move and give this team a real shot to win; it might be his greatest failure yet.
