There should be a healthy market for pending unrestricted free agents such as Bobby McMann and Scott Laughton, and the Leafs could opt to cut deeper into their current group by exploring the trade value of players like Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Brandon Carlo, Max Domi, Mattias Maccelli, or perhaps even one of their netminders. From the outside, much of the speculation has revolved around what those players might be able to fetch in terms of draft capital, but with the Leafs looking to keep their competitive window pried open, they might be inclined to go after pieces that could supplement their current core sooner rather than later. For opposing teams who might be limited in terms of draft capital themselves, offering up prospects already in their system could be the best path to improving their lineup for a push this season.
Which teams might those be, and what young players could they offer up to help get a deal done with the Leafs?
Colorado Avalanche
The Avs have been the best team in the league all season long, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to rest on their laurels as the deadline approaches. They don’t have a pick in the first three rounds of the upcoming draft, but they still own a first-rounder and two second-rounders for the 2027 draft, and they have a handful of intriguing young players in their system.
Colorado’s first-round pick from the 2023 draft, Mikhail Gulyayev, may not fit the exact profile that Leafs’ management desires as an undersized defenceman, but he would provide them with the mobility and offensive upside that they currently lack on the back end. His point totals don’t jump off the page, especially this season, but he is playing a depth role in the KHL with little power play time, and he has continued to improve his play away from the puck, making him less of a one-dimensional puck mover type of player.
Gavin Brindley was chosen by the Columbus Blue Jackets just a few picks after Gulyayev in the 2023 draft and was dealt to Colorado last season, where he has taken on a regular NHL role in 2025-26. He’s registered 11 points in 42 games while playing in Colorado’s bottom-six as a 21-year-old, and while he is also undersized at just 5-foot-8, he plays a forceful game. Brindley excels as an energy player with his speed, agility, and tenacious nature, but he also has the requisite offensive talent to grow into a larger role as his career progresses. He might not be a perfect fit for what the Leafs are looking for, but he is a player who could slide into their lineup immediately and become a part of their peripheral core for years to come.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Trading with division rivals is always tricky, but we saw the Leafs link up with the retooling Bruins ahead of last year’s deadline, so Treliving and company won’t shut the door if Tampa Bay comes to them with a competitive offer for one of their players. The Lightning don’t have a first-rounder in either of the next two drafts, but they are well-stocked with second and third-round picks, and though their prospect pool has been thinned out in recent years, they still have a couple of quality up-and-comers on the way.
Sam O’Reilly was dealt to Tampa Bay in exchange for fellow former first-rounder Isaac Howard (more on him later) this past offseason, and he is a player with whom the Leafs would be familiar, having seen him plenty as a teammate of Easton Cowan’s with the London Knights. O’Reilly was traded to the Kitchener Rangers earlier this season, and he has been productive there, as he was for Canada at the World Juniors with four goals and four assists in seven games. He has a projectable NHL frame at 6-foot-1, and he plays a relentless, physical game with the defensive awareness to stick at centre. O’Reilly will be a difficult player to pry out of Tampa, but we’ve seen acquisition prices soar at the deadline in recent years.
A couple of Tampa’s top prospects, Ethan Gauthier and Dylan Duke, have already graduated to pro hockey. Duke is in the midst of a second straight productive year with Syracuse in the AHL, and despite his 5-foot-10 frame, he is extremely effective as a net front presence. The biggest concern with Duke is whether his below-average skating ability, combined with his smaller stature, will have him top out as an effective AHLer. Gauthier hasn’t been quite as productive, with 14 points in 38 games as a rookie in the AHL, but he might have a clearer projection to the NHL because of his well-rounded style of play. The son of former NHLer Denis Gauthier, Ethan is impactful along the boards, winning battles and getting pucks to the middle of the ice. He projects as a solid two-way forward who can handle a third-line role and excel as a fourth-liner in the NHL.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes haven’t reached the mountain top with their current core, but they have established a model that teams around the league should envy. They have been a consistent Stanley Cup contender without pillaging their prospect pool and stock of draft picks, due in large part to their drafting ability.
Top prospects such as Bradly Nadeau and Nikita Artamanov are likely off limits, but there is plenty of depth in Carolina’s pipeline. Defenceman Kurban Limatov, the latest highly-touted prospect to fall to the Hurricanes later than many expected him to be picked, is having a great year in the Russian junior league. He is a smooth skater who can escape forecheckers and start the breakout, he has a big shot from the point and the offensive vision to facilitate for his teammates, and he is an imposing physical presence at 6’4″ who loves to throw his weight around.
2024 second-rounder Dominik Badinka is another big-bodied, mobile defender, and he is having a solid rookie season in the AHL. His raw production hasn’t reached the levels that were expected of him just yet, but there are a lot of projectable traits to his game as a right-shot defender. He is adept at retrieving pucks under pressure and getting play started up ice, and he is a sound in-zone defender who uses his big frame to stop cycles and box out around his net. Badinka projects as a fourth or fifth defenceman on an NHL depth chart.
Minnesota Wild
Following their blockbuster acquisition of Quinn Hughes earlier this season, it’s clear that the Minnesota Wild are all-in. They still have some draft capital to work with, and even though they dealt away some high-end young talent to acquire Hughes, they have some young pieces that will be attractive to sellers ahead of the deadline.
2024 second-rounder Ryder Ritchie is in his first year of college hockey with Boston University, and he’s got 15 points in 31 games. He may never grow into a primary offensive driver, but he has slick hands and a powerful, quick release that should translate into production at the next level. There is still room for improvement away from the puck, but Ritchie possesses some skills that are tough to teach.
Defender Carson Lambos was once projected as a top pick in his draft year and ultimately fell to the Wild near the end of the first round in 2021, but he has shown steady growth since then and now finds himself knocking on the door to the NHL. He made his NHL debut this season, and he has 12 points in 45 AHL games, but he is probably owed a bit more on the scoresheet. Lambos isn’t a dynamic skater, but he gets around the ice well enough, and he has good vision with the puck on his stick. He can hold opposing defenders with his eyes and quick fakes to open up lanes, and should grow into an effective puck mover at the NHL level, even if he never becomes a big-time offensive producer.
Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars have been one of the top teams in the NHL over the last number of years, and as a result, they have limited assets to work with ahead of the trade deadline.
Their top prospect might be 2025 third-rounder Cameron Schmidt, who fell in the draft because of his size, but he has been one of the best players in the WHL this season, and Dallas will be doing their best to keep him out of trade talks. Beyond Schmidt, Emil Hemming is a promising young talent who is sure to draw interest from opposing clubs.
Hemming, selected at the end of the first round in 2024, hasn’t put it all together offensively yet, but he still has the makings of a quality NHLer. He has good size at 6-foot-2, he is defensively responsible as a winger, and he has a variety of shots in his toolkit that could already beat NHL netminders. The biggest issue is his inability to create his own looks on a consistent basis, but Hemming has a relatively safe floor with plenty of room to grow.
Montreal Canadiens
It’s tough to imagine the Leafs and Canadiens finding common ground on a trade, but it has happened before, and anything is possible ahead of the trade deadline. Montreal is still a team on the rise, and they don’t have the same pressure to push their chips into the middle as some of the other teams on this list, but they also have a wealth of young talent in their system that they could use to give their club a boost heading to the postseason.
Owen Beck is a player I’ve been fond of dating back to his junior career, and while it’s difficult to imagine the Canadiens moving off a promising young centre, a scoring winger like Bobby McMann, or a reliable defender still under team control beyond this season like OEL or Brandon Carlo, could prove costly at the deadline. Beck is a future fan-favourite wherever he ends up, with his hardworking and energetic style of play. He is strong in the dot, plays a responsible defensive game, skates well, and has enough offensive upside to anchor a third line in the NHL.
A bit further down Montreal’s organizational depth chart, Tyler Thorpe is a player who ticks a lot of the boxes that the current Leafs regime desires. The production hasn’t been there in his first AHL season, but he is a power forward who loves to get involved physically, and he has a legitimately heavy shot. Thorpe projects as a physical fourth-liner who can chip in with the odd goal, and though he alone probably isn’t enough to acquire an upgrade to their NHL roster, he could be part of a larger trade package.
Pittsburgh Penguins
It’s equally difficult to envision Kyle Dubas consummating a trade with the Leafs, but the Penguins have been one of the most pleasant surprises in the league this year. It’s no secret that Dubas likes his guys, and Bobby McMann is one of those players. With the core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson in the twilight of their careers, Dubas should spare little expense in supplementing that group ahead of the postseason.
That said, top prospects such as Harrison Brunicke, Rutger McGroarty, and Ville Koivunen are probably unattainable, but there are other exciting young players in the Penguins’ system. 2022 first-rounder Owen Pickering isn’t far off from that group either, but he would be a fantastic fit for a Leafs team that needs to inject some young talent onto their blueline. He is a big kid at 6-foot-5 and over 200 pounds, and that allows him to deny entries with his long reach while helping to make up for some of his limitations as a skater.
Pickering isn’t a pure offensive threat by any means, but he moves the puck well and processes things happening around him at a high level. He has already played close to 30 NHL games, so there is some proof of concept there, but it will take a strong desire from Dubas and a stronger market for a player like McMann if the Leafs are going to land a promising young player such as Pickering.
Bill Zonnon and William Horcoff are a couple of recent draftees who are enjoying big seasons as well, and while the Pens have plenty of assets to work with, Dubas is unlikely to cash out on either of them this early in their respective development processes.
Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers have been one of the teams most heavily linked to the Leafs in the lead-up to the trade deadline, and it’s easy to see why. Bobby McMann would be a perfect fit for Edmonton as a speedy, power winger with scoring ability, and they’ve been rumoured to have interest in the likes of Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Brandon Carlo as well.
Surprisingly, the Oilers still have most of their allotted draft picks aside from their first-rounder in the upcoming draft, but a retooling team like the Leafs could push for more NHL-ready help rather than draft picks. Players like Isaac Howard and Matt Savoie still have plenty of value, but for a team that has come so close to winning it all in the last two years, the Oilers have to be willing to go big for another Stanley Cup push.
Howard is another small winger at 5-foot-11, but he’s got a solid build that keeps him from being pushed around. He is a gorgeous skater who can beat defenders one-on-one, he has a quick and powerful release that makes him dangerous from anywhere in the offensive zone, and he has the hands to make skilled plays in traffic. All of those attributes have made him an extremely productive rookie in the AHL with 31 points in just 26 games, but he hasn’t been able to break through into a prominent NHL role yet this season. Part of a successful deadline for the Leafs will involve taking advantage of desperate teams, and the Oilers should be as desperate as anyone to win now.
Savoie has established his NHL role to a greater degree than Howard this season, but he is still a depth piece for the Oilers as of today. Savoie is a shifty, well-rounded offensive threat who can generate chances for himself, as well as his teammates. He is dangerous as a shooter, but uses that to his advantage as a playmaker as well, holding onto pucks and drawing in opposing defenders to open up passing lanes. Savoie is an elusive skater, and despite his small stature, he has no reservations about playing in the dirty areas of the offensive zone. He, too, will be difficult to pry out of Edmonton, but if the Leafs can make it work, Savoie would instantly inject some youthful offensive skill into Toronto’s lineup.
If those two are off the table completely and the Leafs still desire a player over a pick, Beau Akey is a name that is sure to come up in trade talks between the two clubs. The right-shot blueliner has acquitted himself well in his first AHL season with 10 points in 32 games, but there’s a lot more to his game than creating offence from the back end. Akey is a fantastic skater with great four-way mobility that allows him to maintain tight gaps and mirror oncoming attackers off the rush. He isn’t the most physical player, but he defends with an active stick and solid positioning in his own zone.