Team: 2023-24 Toronto Maple Leafs

Initial Creation Date: Mar. 5, 2024

Published: Mar. 5, 2024

LTIR Enabled: Yes

Season Days: 192

Days Remaining: 44

Season Remaining: 23%

Projected Cap Hit Prior To Days Remaining : $97,274,492

I've come to terms with what the Leafs SHOULD do come trade deadline:
1. Treliving is not giving up the first for a rental, and there are no good RHD in the market with multiple years on their contract - and even if there was, there is not a lot of cap space to pull such thing off.
2. Savard and Larsson are terrible and should not warrant a first - it would be an absolute fleece by MTL and SEA. Borgen is decent, but not worth the price: He's a third-pairing defenseman on a down-year.
3. The best the Leafs can do to at least prepare for playoff time is acquiring solid depth pieces that will contribute to the team.

TOR-PIT:
Chad Ruhwedel is a great bottom-pairing defenseman and his asking price shouldn't be too high considering he is in a depth role. Kyle Dubas himself acquired both Timmins and Niemela during his tenure in TOR, so he is familiar with his return: a B prospect along with a though injury-prone; top-6 TWD, whose contract expires after next season.

TOR-WSH:
Reports claim Nic Dowd is fetching a first - and in my honest opinion, Dowd is an amazing top-9 C but he is not worth that. TOR doesn't let go of Nick Robertson because he isn't NHL level, or that he doesn't have potential; it's the fact that he has not been given the right opportunity to develop into that top-6 potential which he definitely does have. The truth is he won't get the role he deserves here in TOR, and it would be doing right by him to trade him to a team that can. TOR gets a great depth piece for the playoffs and WSH gets a young promising winger looking to breakout. The late 2nd is included because I truly feel Nick Robertson has significantly more value than Nic Dowd and the Leafs need to at least make the trade more fair. A 3rd instead of a 2nd? Perhaps...

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