Maple Leafs player who must be traded soon

The Maple Leafs could shore up their forward depth.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the better teams in the NHL as we near the midway point of the 2024-25 season. This is not a surprising turn of events given the talent on Toronto's roster. In any event, with Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews struggling with injury, it's quite an inspiring run for this team.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the better teams in the NHL as we near the midway point of the 2024-25 season. This is not a surprising turn of events given the talent on Toronto's roster. In any event, with Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews struggling with injury, it's quite an inspiring run for this team.

As of now, it's a two-team race for the Atlantic Division crown. The Florida Panthers are in first place with 46 points. Behind them are the Maple Leafs. Toronto owns a record of 21-11-2 for 44 points on the season. Both teams should also keep an eye on a more motivated Boston Bruins team, who are only six points back of the Panthers.

The point is that the Maple Leafs are in a good spot right now. Toronto is likely to receive a premium playoff spot, barring an absolute collapse. Expect Toronto to make some trades between now and the NHL Trade Deadline in March. And don't be surprised if they trade one of their former top prospects to make a deal work.

The Maple Leafs should honor Nick Robertson's trade request

The Maple Leafs received a trade request from forward Nick Robertson over the summer. And the Maple Leafs worked hard to honor the request before the start of the season. However, a trade never materialized. Instead, Robertson signed a one-year contract to remain in Toronto for the 2024-25 campaign.

Signing this contract did not officially declare a trade dead, though. All it truly did was kick the can down the road and move the issue to another time. It appears as if the time for a trade to go down is quickly approaching. The Maple Leafs should do what they can to trade their former 2019 second-round pick before the NHL Trade Deadline in March.

Robertson enjoyed a bit of a breakout season for the Maple Leafs last year. He scored 14 goals and 27 points in 56 games for Toronto as they made the playoffs once again. However, that season came under Sheldon Keefe, who was fired as Toronto's head coach in the offseason.

The Maple Leafs went on to hire Craig Berube as their new bench boss. And so far, things have not worked out for Robertson with a new coach in charge. He has scored just five goals and eight points in 27 games to this point.

He is still on track to score around 15 goals and 23 points if he can continue his level of production. However, his offensive output has been incredibly inconsistent this year. In fact, six of his eight points on the season have come within the last four games. Robertson recorded three straight two-point games from December 15 to December 20.

Robertson is still 23 years old and has a lot of room to hit his stride still. And he has shown rather recently that he can score at the NHL level, to some extent. There should be at least a few teams who take an interest in his services around the NHL Trade Deadline. The Maple Leafs should take advantage of that and honor his trade request from the summer.