March 5, 2025 | 6:58pm ET
TheFourthPeriod.com

MAPLE LEAFS REMAIN IN MARKET FOR CENTRE

Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving

The Toronto Maple Leafs continue to explore the trade market for a centre and remain engaged on the likes of Brayden Schenn in St. Louis, Brock Nelson with the New York Islanders, and Scott Laughton with the Philadelphia Flyers, among others.

Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving remains involved in trade talks in an attempt to bolster his roster and adding a second-line centre is still at the top of his wish list.

During today’s edition of “The Latest” on TFP, David Pagnotta and Dennis Bernstein discussed Toronto’s search for help up the middle.

“We know that they’re looking at center,” Pagnotta said. “We talked about Brayden Schenn with Jersey, he’s somebody that (the Leafs) have been targeting. They’ve explored (Yanni) Gourde, who ends up in Tampa. We know they’re in on and have been in on Scott Laughton. They’ve been exploring alternative options, Brock Nelson, etc.”

With limited salary cap space, however, any major addition the Maple Leafs make will require some salary cap juggling and plenty of creativity if the player coming back has a substantial cap hit.

Forwards Nick Robertson and David Kampf, who owns a 10-team no-trade list, have been floating around the rumour mill as possible casualties of the cap.

If the Leafs land a bigger fish, such as Schenn, it will cost them significant assets, as well, including at least one of their top prospects like Fraser Minten, Easton Cowan, Ben Danford or Topi Niemala, something Bernstein suggests might not necessarily be in the cards for Treliving.

“Look, another piece might help them, but it’s not gonna put them over,” Bernstein explained. “There’s not a trade here that is the defining play that helps the Leafs win three rounds or to get to a Stanley Cup Final. I don’t see that player. So, I don’t really see a big move, maybe a depth one, but how much is that gonna move the needle for a team that really needs their big players to play in big spots once we get to the postseason.”

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One thing the Maple Leafs won’t do is react based on what other clubs in their division are doing, Bernstein added.

The Tampa Bay Lightning pulled off a big trade Wednesday, acquiring Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand from the Seattle Kraken, while the Florida Panthers have added Seth Jones and Vitek Vanecek, and may pull off another trade.

“I think if a GM has the attitude of 'somebody else made a move, so I have to make a move,' that’s a losing attitude,” Bernstein said. “You worry about your team. And if are you going to set you up your team to win and make a deep postseason run, you can’t worry about what Tampa does or what Florida did with Seth Jones. You can’t have a reactive trade for that because you wind up making a bad trad. It’s as simple as that.”