Four Potential Trade Deadline Targets For The Maple Leafs

By Luca Tersigni, The Hockey News intern

As the NHL season enters its last quarter, teams around the league will be shifting into high gear in an attempt to improve their roster before the March 7 trade deadline. For the Toronto Maple Leafs, even in a season where the team is battling for first place in the Atlantic Division, there are still many ways that GM Brad Treliving can help improve the team’s chances of success come playoff time.

Dylan Cozens (Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images)

Throughout the season, glaring issues such as the lack of a legitimate third-line center have been a hot topic. With a crop of available trade targets, the Leafs should be able to retrieve the services they need in order to make a deep playoff run.

Brayden Schenn, C, St. Louis Blues

If the current captain of the Blues becomes available for trade, Treliving and the rest of Leafs management should be all over this acquisition. Schenn has 12 goals and 37 points in 61 games for the Blues this season and would be the highest-scoring player if slotted into the Leafs’ bottom six, becoming exactly what the team has been looking for in a third-line center.

Schenn would also bring a Stanley Cup-winning pedigree, taking it home with the Blues in 2019. Plus, Leafs coach Craig Berube is plenty familiar with Schenn – who spent just over five years playing under Berube – so trading for the league veteran would only make sense, although the price may be a tad high.

Rickard Rakell, RW, Pittsburgh Penguins

Rakell could be the missing piece to finally create the perfect second line alongside John Tavares and William Nylander. On an underachieving Penguins team, Rakell has still been able to produce this season, putting up 26 goals and 60 points in 61 games. As scoring for the Leafs has tended to dry up come playoff time, adding another 30-goal scorer to the mix definitely wouldn’t hurt. Rakell and Nylander started the 4 Nations Face-Off as linemates for Team Sweden,  so there is already budding chemistry there that could compel Toronto management to pick up the phone.

Scott Laughton, C, Philadelphia Flyers

Come playoff time, Laughton could bring an extra edge to the Leafs. With 11 goals and 27 points in 58 games, he’s another option for the Leafs’ depth center role. Philadelphia has already made a big move this season, trading Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost to the Calgary Flames, so teams like the Leafs know they could be open to more business in the future. A bonus for the Leafs is that if they decide to kick tires with Philly, Laughton would not be just a rental for the playoffs as he’s also under contract for the 2025-26 season at a reasonable cap hit of $3 million. If the Leafs are looking for players with term beyond just this season, Laughton could be one of their options.

Dylan Cozens, C, Buffalo Sabres

Although EA’s NHL franchise mode trades can rarely be compared to real life, there are not too many times a 24-year-old center with a recent 30-goal season becomes potentially available for trade. And while the chances of Buffalo making any sort of big trade with the Leafs are low, NHL Network’s Kevin Weekes mentioned the Leafs as one of the teams with interest in Cozens.

Sitting at 11 goals and 30 points in 58 games, Cozens would not only be able to help the Leafs now but also in the future as Tavares and Mitch Marner’s potential contract extensions are still up in the air. Cozens could be a young replacement for years to come as he’ll be under contract at least until the summer of 2030. Yes, the Leafs would have to let go of some decent assets, but for a player such as Cozens, that could pay off now and in the future.

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