The Toronto Maple Leafs will fight for their playoff lives when they come back from the Olympic break. Toronto is still in the hunt, as they are only six points back of the Boston Bruins for the final Wild Card spot. However, they are fighting an incredible uphill battle for that last spot.
The Maple Leafs will need to make some tough decisions once play resumes. Toronto could stand pat and hope its team pulls itself together down the stretch. Or they could do a bit of an on-the-fly retool. They could trade a couple players who are on expiring contracts and see what sort of value they can get out of them.
Toronto already doesn't have a lot in terms of draft pick capital to work with. Years of being a dominant regular-season team will do this to any franchise. In a season that appears to be lost, recouping something for their free agents is not a bad strategy by any means.
The Maple Leafs did not want to be in this position, but that's how things have gone. With this in mind, who should Toronto dangle on the trade block this year? Here is one player the Maple Leafs must trade before the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline on March 6th.
Maple Leafs could get easy value out of Bobby McMann
The Maple Leafs have flashier players they could trade. An Auston Matthews trade could make some sense, though it won't happen unless the team decides to blow it all up. Oliver Ekman-Larsson is having an incredible season, so he could be on the trade block. However, Bobby McMann could be a very under-the-radar value play.
McMann broke out with the Maple Leafs in 2023-24 season, scoring 15 goals in 56 games. The Wainright, Alberta native followed that up with another impressive showing. He scored 20 goals for the first time in his career, while skating in 74 games. This season, he has been even better.
McMann, 29, is third among Maple Leafs skaters in terms of goals. Only Matthews and veteran John Tavares have scored more goals this year. He is one goal away from matching his goal total from last year. And he is on pace to flirt with the 30-goal mark this year.
McMann is a very good goal scorer who the Maple Leafs would love to keep around. However, there is a ton of value to be had on the trade market. McMann is 29, but he's also a rental. Furthermore, he accounts for just $1.35 million against the salary cap.
This is a player who can score goals and is very easy to fit into any team's salary cap. Whoever acquires him through trade would also have the first chance to sign him to an extension, as well. McMann is certainly due a raise, but at 29, he may not get the longest-term contract.
The Maple Leafs need to get all the value they can get on the trade market. McMann could give them that value. He may not give them a first-round pick back. But he could net a second-round pick, or maybe a solid prospect. There are a lot of ways this can turn out, and almost all of them would be positive for the Maple Leafs.
Toronto is going to need to be smart around the NHL Trade Deadline. If they can find a taker for McMann, they need to pull the trigger before the buzzer sounds on March 6th.
