There are only six days left until the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline, which means the trade action is about to ramp up. The Vancouver Canucks got ahead of it when they acquired Andrei Kuzmenko and Nikita Zadorov from the Calgary Flames. The next big domino to fall was thought to be the Toronto Maple Leafs’ biggest target, Chris Tanev, who went to the Dallas Stars. The Flames are selling off pieces this season, and a few teams have capitalized on that; however, the Maple Leafs don’t seem to be one of those teams, unless they can trade a depth forward from them.
It is hard to trade in the NHL, especially when you don’t have many assets. The Maple Leafs have a few later-round picks they can offer, as they seem hesitant to trade their top prospects and a first-round pick. This means general manager Brad Treliving will need to get creative when acquiring players, especially after acquiring Ilya Lyubushkin from the Anaheim Ducks for a third and sixth-round pick.
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Currently, the Maple Leafs sit third in the Atlantic Division and have won the last eight of nine games. Over the last two weeks, this team has felt a bit different, and it has shown on the ice. Unfortunately, their biggest weakness is still their blue line — specifically on the right side — and even after the Lyubushkin trade, they need another depth defenceman who is right-handed or can play both sides. This will be where Treliving tries to improve the most by adding a player with a similar skillset to Luke Schenn. Sadly, they can’t acquire him from the Nashville Predators, so they will need to look outside the box for a cheaper defenceman with size. Here are three options who make sense for the Maple Leafs ahead of the March 8 trade deadline.
Andrew Peeke – Columbus Blue Jackets
Andrew Peeke of the Columbus Blue Jackets could be up for grabs. He has seemed to fall out of favour with the team, especially with the moves the organization made during the offseason. He brings a similar game to Lyubushkin: He loves to use the body, can block shots, and hecan eat up a lot of time on ice. He plays anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes per night, which may not be the case with the Maple Leafs, but it is nice to know he can do that if needed. Peeke is a right-handed defenceman, which may find him playing with Morgan Rielly, especially with how good the pairings of T.J. Brodie/Timothy Liljegren and Jake McCabe/Simon Benoit have been lately.
As with Lyubushkin, I did my due diligence and checked in with the Blue Jackets team at The Hockey Writers about Peeke’s trade value. I talked with Nicholas Arnold, and he had this to say: “In my opinion, they’d likely get a similar return for what they just traded for Emil Bemstrom, including a conditional pick that jumps in value if he hits some sort of metric (i.e., plays over 20 minutes a night in the playoffs).” The return on Bemstrom was Alex Nylander and a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. If the Maple Leafs were to match that to the best they can, I think they’d look at giving up a 2024 fifth-round conditional pick and Dmitry Ovchinnikov. He could fit in well within the Blue Jackets’ organization, considering the number of Russian players they have.
Nick Seeler – Philadelphia Flyers
Nick Seeler is a left-shooting defenseman — which the Maple Leafs already have a blue-line logjam of — but could be deemed the most interesting name for almost all of Leafs Nation. He brings so much energy to a lineup and could fit extremely well on the Maple Leafs’ back end despite being left handed — when the playoffs come and you need someone who can bring energy to your team, would you rather have Seeler or Mark Giordano? No disrespect to Giordano, but after how Seeler has played this season, I’d be taking him all day long. He can bring so much to the Maple Leafs: He hits a ton, can drop the gloves, and can get in shooting lanes, all which make him a near-perfect target for playoff time.
I checked in with Andrew McGuinness of the Philadelphia Flyers’ team at The Hockey Writers. He had this to say: “I’m expecting about a third-round pick if they trade him; maybe another late-round pick or C-level prospect with that if they’re lucky. The Zadorov return (a 3rd and a 5th) feels like the ceiling to me, although he is much cheaper, so maybe that allows them to get slightly more.” The Flames’ return on Zadorov was a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a fifth-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft.
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If this is truly a comparison to acquiring Seeler from the Flyers, then the Maple Leafs can’t miss this opportunity. Keep in mind, though, that they will still need to go out and get themselves a right-shooter, but offering up a 2026 third-round and 2024 fifth-round (CGY) pick would be a good package to give up. After acquiring Seeler, Treliving needs to re-sign him to a one- or two-year deal with a $1.0–1.25 million contract extension, which is a $250,000 or $500,000 raise from his $775,000 cap hit.
All in all, the Maple Leafs need some defensive help. They need guys who can shut down cycles and aren’t afraid to throw the body. They have the pairing of McCabe and Benoit, who have taken on the shutdown role, but they can’t rely on just one pairing to do so, especially in the playoffs. The Maple Leafs should be targeting one or two defencemen who would bring size and physicality.
