The Toronto Maple Leafs are actively searching for a center ahead of the March 7 trade deadline, but a lack of tradable assets might make it hard for general manager Brad Treliving to pull off his preferred deal.
Back on Jan. 14, Treliving promised that Toronto would "continue to look to see what the marketplace offers, what’s available there, and ultimately what the cost is and see if there’s a fit."
The price-value balance might not swing in the Maple Leafs' way, though, considering they don't have the most-coveted type of asset in the market, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
"Toronto is seeing how high it can go at center," Elliotte Friedman wrote Thursday in his "32 Thoughts" column. "Won’t be easy, and might not be able to shoot as high as a 2C, but the Leafs are looking.
"First-round picks matter, and they don’t have one in June."
As Friedman pointed out, the Maple Leafs don't have a first-round pick in the 2025 draft. Toronto, however, has the first-round pick belonging to the 2026 draft as well as all picks from 2027 on.
Without such a premium draft asset to dangle, the Leafs may need to move a top prospect worth that type of selection to complete a meaningful trade.
Fellow Sportsnet analyst Justin Bourne expects Toronto to trade either Easton Cowan or Fraser Minten, their two highest-ranked prospects, if they want to acquire a legitimate player.
"The Leafs don’t need a deadline where they add a couple bottom-six grinders and a seventh defenseman," Bourne wrote on Friday. "It’s a weird year, without any clear favorites, and the Leafs have as good a chance as any other team. They need to separate themselves with a bigger move."
In case the Leafs cannot trade for a bonafide top-tier player, or at the very least a middle-six center, NHL insider Darren Dreger listed potential mid-tier trade targets for Toronto on Jan. 8.
Dreger named Scott Laughton, Brock Nelson, Ryan Strome, Ryan O’Reilly, Mikael Granlund, Yanni Gourde, and Nick Bjugstad.
Analyst Nick Kypreos argued that none of these names provide the impact needed while discussing the situation the Leafs are facing on Monday, saying Toronto "needs somebody as good or better than John Tavares."
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