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The Toronto Maple Leafs are hoping that their years of suffering painful defeats in the early rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs are over. General manager Brad Treliving and head coach Craig Berube have built a team that is in first place in the Atlantic Division, and they are on a path to be no lower than the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
They are currently on a 5-game winning streak and they have a chance to catch the Washington Capitals for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. The Maple Leafs have been a team that has a slew of superstars in Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares, but this year's team has shown significant improvement in defense, goaltending and overall toughness. These are all characteristics that could help the Maple Leafs get deep into the playoffs and overcome their past disappointments.
They may have a team that can succeed at this point, but don't expect Treliving to sit on the sidelines while other general managers in Washington, Tampa Bay, Edmonton, Las Vegas and other contending cities fortify their rosters. It would be one thing if the Leafs were defending Stanley Cup champions or had advanced to the Eastern Conference finals on a regular basis. They have won just one series even though they have been to the playoffs eight seasons in a row.
Moves have to be made. Here's a look at both the ideal and nightmare scenarios the Maple Leafs face at the March 7 trade deadline.
Trading for Ryan O'Reilly could help Leafs drive to the top
The Toronto Maple Leafs don't need any more fire power. In addition to Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Taveras, the Leafs have some outstanding secondary scorers in Matthews Knies and Bobby McMann .
The Maple Leafs need players who are going to stand up at the toughest moments the team faces. They need a player who can score a key goal that either ties the score or gives them a late lead. They need a player who can shut down an opposing star who has the skill to take over a game.
Perhaps no player has a track record for filling those needs like Ryan O'Reilly of the Nashville Predators. O'Reilly was with the St. Louis Blues in 2019 when they rose from the depths of the NHL standings to the Stanley Cup. They beat the Boston Bruins in 7 games to win the franchise's only Stanley Cup, and O'Reilly scored the go-ahead goal in the decisive game in Boston.
Not only did he step up offensively, he regularly broke up Boston forays against the favored Bruins. He has been the ideal “stand-up” player throughout his career. O'Reilly scored 8 goals and 15 assists for the Blues in their 26 games that postseason and he won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Berube was the head coach of the Blues for that incredible run and he clearly has a great appreciation for O'Reilly and what he can bring for a team with championship hopes.
O'Reilly has scored 14 goals and 22 assists for the Nashville Predators, one of the league's most disappointing teams. O'Reilly is likely to be pursued by a number of teams at the deadline.
Other key players that the Leafs could go after include Brock Nelson of the New York Islanders, Brayden Schenn of the St. Louis Blues and Trent Frederic of the Boston Bruins.
Nightmare scenario for Maple Leafs
Hockey aficionados have full respect for Treliving and his knowledge of what it takes to put a winning hockey team together. However, the pressure is on since he is the man at the controls for the Leafs.
As the postseason gets closer and closer, the Toronto postseason history will get shouted loudly the experts. The Maple Leafs have not won the Stanley Cup since 1967 and the team has been in the postseason desert for 58 years. It doesn't matter that the team had a glorious history and has won 13 Stanley Cups, second only to the Montreal Canadiens.
The nightmare scenario will be failing in the playoffs once again. It doesn't matter if one of the team's stars fails in the clutch or a new acquisition loses a key faceoff that turns into the decisive play in overtime.
Any move will be the wrong one if the Leafs don't come home with the vaunted Stanley Cup. That may seem unfair, but that is the pressure that this historic franchise faces.
