The Toronto Maple Leafs will be out of action for more than two weeks, with the exception of team captain Auston Matthews, winger William Nylander, and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who are making their way to Italy for the Winter Olympic hockey tournament, beginning next Wednesday. While their teammates are likely headed to someplace sunny and warm, the work is just beginning for GM Brad Treliving, who will have less than two weeks to work with between the roster freeze being lifted and the NHL trade deadline on March 6.
The Leafs, according to a variety of insiders, are in a posture of being sellers but more towards a quick reset and retool instead of a full rebuild. As it has been made clear from recent columns and various podcast appearances, my point of view is that the “tear it down to the studs” rebuild would be asinine, since the three main cogs at forward: Matthews, Nylander, and Matthew Knies, are all locked up for multiple years and are all under the age of 30, and both Matthews and Nylanders have full no-move clauses that would make it impossible for Toronto to get an equal return in a trade.
The retool would require a strategic selling off of assets for a maximum return before the deadline, including rental players, and players with term at positions where the Leafs have depth. We will take a look at each position on the roster and evaluate what Treliving could be prepared to do.
Left Wing
The situation with the Leafs on the left side is clear when it comes to Bobby McMann. The 29-year-old has 19 goals playing on the top line with Auston Matthews and is on pace to surpass his career-high 20 goals from last season, setting himself up for a big payday in free agency this July. Toronto is not in a position to pay the big winger what he will get in a marketplace devoid of impact free agents other than Buffalo’s Alex Tuch.
McMann will get overpaid and likely get a four-or-five year term in the $4-5 million range on the open market, signing him until age 34 to 35, which, for an already aging team like Toronto, is not the direction to go. Treliving has to be thinking of striking while the iron is hot on dealing him as a rental, and McMann’s $1.35 million salary brings contending teams up against the cap like Dallas, Colorado, Edmonton, and Vegas into play, but none of them have their 2026 first-round picks.
This puts the Leafs in the position of getting a 2027 first-rounder in the deal or a top prospect. In the case of Edmonton, where McMann has been rumored to go, Treliving might be in a position to ask for a youngster like Matthew Savoie or Ike Howard instead of the 2027 first. If the deal included more players and the Leafs taking back Andrew Mangiapane, then both the first and a prospect may be on the table.
Outside of McMann (which seems to be a probability that he is moved), Matias Maccelli picked up his play heading into the break, with three goals against the Flames and Oilers, but the question is whether there is any interest from other clubs if the Leafs retain some of his $3.425 million salary. The 25-year-old is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer. The question the Leafs have to ask themselves is whether they will qualify Maccelli this summer for over $4 million for next season. If the answer is no, then they should not hesitate to trade him.
