With more trades starting to flood in a day before the NHL Trade Deadline on Friday, it was only a matter of time until the Toronto Maple Leafs and Brad Treliving got involved. Around noon on Thursday, the Maple Leafs announced that they traded depth forward Nicolas Roy to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for a conditional 2027 first-round pick and a conditional 2026 fifth-round pick.
The conditions on the picks were also noted in the deal. The first-round pick is top-10 protected and would become a 2028 first-round pick if it were to be pushed. The fifth-round pick was the lowest of the three that the Avalanche own in the fifth round of the 2026 NHL Draft.
While Roy wasn’t one of the three players that the Maple Leafs have been holding out of the lineup for roster management reasons, the trade did set the tone for what the Maple Leafs and Treliving are looking for heading into the trade deadline on Friday – future assets.
Maple Leafs Setting Up Their Market
As it stands, the Maple Leafs have a number of assets still as viable options on the trade market. Bobby McMann and Oliver Ekman-Larsson headlining that list. While the market has been saturated with overpayments, some would argue, the Maple Leafs joined in on selling off at high market value when they decided to move Roy.
In comparison, the asking price for Ekman-Larsson was reportedly a first-round pick. For McMann, it was somewhere in the range of two second-round picks or a first-rounder in addition to another asset. But to say that Roy would warrant a first-round pick – conditional or not – would not have been on many people’s bingo card.
After all, at 29 years old, Roy is averaging under 15 minutes per game with the Maple Leafs in 59 games this season and has a career-low shooting percentage of 9.1 percent this season. While he’s not exactly known for his offensive production, his five goals and 20 points this season aren’t exactly number that normally draw a first-round offer.
Related: Grading the Maple Leafs & Avalanche’s Nicolas Roy Trade
Still, the Avalanche needed depth down the middle and were willing to move a first-round pick for a player with a year left on his contract at $3 million annual average value. The term doesn’t hurt and could be part of the reason for the return. Whatever the case, the Maple Leafs made way with a good future draft asset and solidified what they expect for their higher end assets on the market.
Maple Leafs New to Selling at Trade Deadline
For the Maple Leafs, setting a market value for middle-six assets is a relatively new look. After all, it’s the first time in the Auston Matthews era that the team has been labelled as sellers at the deadline. The look is a new one for this generation of the team.
For some, seeing guys like Roy go has been tough. Jospeh Woll noted on Thursday how hard it was being a part of a losing team and selling off assets at the trade deadline.
“It sucks losing,” said Woll. “It sucks being in this position. I haven’t been in this position since I’ve been here. It’s not fun selling or whatever that might be. It sucks. I hate it…We have to get out of this slump regardless of what the rest of this season looks like.”
It’s clear, given the moves and the losses piling up, that the Maple Leafs’ players are struggling to accept their current reality. The effects on the room are obvious and the selling of assets is new to the majority of this team. While it’s a tough pill to swallow, the reality of the situation ultimately needs to set in for both players and fans as more names could be moved out in the coming hours.
Treliving Turned Marner Into First-Round Pick
As for the team’s first move, it has to be celebrated to some extent. After all, the 29-year-old was shipped to Toronto in the Mitch Marner deal with the current return seeming more interesting as the trade tree for Marner now grows.
Related: Maple Leafs’ Asset Mismanagement & Ownership Issues Have Failed the Team
As we mentioned, a first-round pick was not the expected return for Roy at this deadline, but in getting back what he did, Treliving has turned Marner into a first-round pick and a fifth-round pick while still getting two thirds of a season out of Roy.
Criticisms this season are acceptable for the team that the Maple Leafs have iced this year, even encouraged. However, ownership and the Maple Leafs brass are taking the next 24 hours to try and earn value back in an already abysmal situation. After all, the saying goes, when the world gives you lemon, make lemonade – or something like that. This is Treliving’s attempt at making lemonade out of the lemons he’s dealt with this season.
