Well, it’s over. The 2024 NHL Trade Deadline had such buildup behind it because there are so many Stanley Cup contenders. One of those teams that are contenders is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ran by Brad Treliving in his first season with the club, he had little to work with but tried to put his stamp on the team.
Let’s rewind to the 2023 offseason. Treliving gets hired as the new Maple Leafs general manager (GM), and his first order of business was the 2023 NHL Draft. With their first-round pick in that draft, he and his scouting department selected Easton Cowan. Cowan now has a 30-game point streak in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the London Knights. Teams called about him and were turned away because his potential was extremely high.
Let’s move forward to the 2023 Free Agency. He brings in ‘snot’, his style of players; Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, Simon Benoit, and Ryan Reaves, all of whom play hard, have an edge and can use that edge to impact a game. Although it didn’t start well, over the next month, Domi, Bertuzzi, and Reaves’ play improved, and they stood out. As for Benoit, his season speaks for itself; he has been good since he came into the lineup and hasn’t given the coaching staff a reason to take him out.
Related: Ilya Lyubushkin’s Promising Start with the Maple Leafs
Now back to the present day. Treliving continues to put his stamp on the team leading up to and at the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline. So, let’s recap the moves that he made to improve his hockey club heading into the playoffs.
Ilya Lyubushkin
Trade Breakdown
Toronto Maple Leafs: Ilya Lyubushkin & Kirill Slepets
Anaheim Ducks: 2025 third-round pick & retains 50% of Lyubushkin’s contract
Carolina Hurricanes: 2024 sixth-round pick & retains 25% of Lyubushkin’s contract
Ilya Lyubushkin is a right-hand shot defenceman that Leafs Nation is familiar with. They also acquired him back in 2022 under the Kyle Dubas regime, and he did decent during his time with the team. This time, they acquired him from the Anaheim Ducks in a three-team deal. He adds an element that the Maple Leafs’ blue line lacked; he plays physically, can stop the cycle, and seems to love blocking shots. On top of that, he is also a right-hand shot, which is another thing that the team lacks.
The price seemed a bit too steep for a guy who may not see time in the playoffs. The Maple Leafs gave up two picks for him because they were asking other teams to retain parts of his salary so they could make more trades. If he continues to play as well as he has, he could take Timothy Liljegren’s spot in the lineup. With the start of the playoffs, Lyubushkin is set to become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) at the end of the season. There could be a chance that the Maple Leafs choose to re-sign him, seeing as he fits Treliving’s style. But that would depend on his asking price and who else is available on the open market. When asked by the media, Treliving had this to say about adding Lyubushkin and others: “By adding him [Joel Edmundson] and Boosh, we have added some size and bite to the backend. Now, we have to do it by committee.”
Cade Webber
Trade Breakdown
Toronto Maple Leafs: Cade Webber
Carolina Hurricanes: 2026 sixth-round pick
Cade Webber is an interesting pick-up for Treliving and the Maple Leafs. The organization had its sights set on the unsigned rookie, and when the Carolina Hurricanes made him available, they decided to bring him on board and pull the trigger on the deal. He is a 6-foot-7, 214-pound defenceman, who is known for his size. Stylistically, he is what you would expect from a blueliner that big. He blocks shots and throws the body, and he is very defensive-minded.
Related: Meet the Newest Maple Leafs Defenceman: Joel Edmundson
When Treliving met with the media after the deadline had passed, he had this to say: “He is a defence-first guy. He is a big body. He moves well. He moves the puck well. But his calling card is defending and penalty killing.” To me, this has me very excited for the future of the Maple Leafs to see Webber on the back end. It’s about time Toronto started to change their ideology when it comes to their style of play. Right now Webber is in his final year at Boston University (BU), to which Treliving had this to say: “He is with a real good team. Hopefully, they go on a real long run at BU, and then we can get him signed after.”
Joel Edmundson
Trade Breakdown
Toronto Maple Leafs: Joel Edmundson
Carolina Hurricanes: 2024 third-round pick, 2025 fifth-round pick, & retain 50% of Edmundson’s contract
Joel Edmundson is the addition I am most excited about. He is going to have a huge impact on the lineup, especially the backend, as it slowly gets used to the new style of play. He is the king of cross-checks, he loves to cross-check the opponent in front of the net, which is something that tends to be overlooked when the playoff starts. He has the art of throwing huge hits similar to what Benoit does; together, these two will be menaces on the blue line. The only real downfall for him is that he is a left-handed shooting defenceman, who can play on the right side but typically doesn’t play on his offside. Treliving was asked about the acquisition of Edmundson, and he said, “We were excited to get Joel. He is a big, long, rangy defenceman. He adds length and physicality. He adds experience.”
Edmundson will likely take over Lyubushkin’s role and become the new partner to Morgan Rielly. These two are familiar with each other from their days in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Moose Jaw Warriors. In terms of the asking price, they gave up more picks, which makes sense because they didn’t want to move prospects or subtract from their roster. However, they also got the Washington Capitals to retain 50 percent of his cap hit, which helped them make another move on deadline day. This is why the asking price was two draft picks in the third and fifth rounds of the 2024 and 2025 Drafts.
Connor Dewar
Trade Breakdown
Toronto Maple Leafs: Connor Dewar
Minnesota Wild: 2026 fourth-round pick & Dmitry Ovchinnikov
Connor Dewar is the last trade that the Maple Leafs made, but the only one made on deadline day. This one was right down to the wire, was in the queue, and was announced after the 3 PM deadline passed. He is a defensive-minded forward that can score. This season, he has 10 goals and four assists, however, the Maple Leafs didn’t acquire him to put points on the board. They got him to help stabilize their struggling penalty kill (PK). He will start shifts in the defensive zone and will be expected to win puck battles. Dewar, albeit small, is aggressive. He hits a ton, gets in hard on the forecheck, and forces the opposition to turn pucks over.
Dewar didn’t cost too much; the Maple Leafs traded a 2026 fourth-round pick and prospect Dmitry Ovchinnikov for a 24-year-old restricted free agent (RFA), whom they could re-sign for cheap. Right now, he is making $800,000, and if things work out during his time here, they could sign him for less than $1 million and allow them more flexibility to potentially part ways with David Kampf in the offseason to clear cap space. The last thing to mention is that he provides the Maple Leafs with more depth down the middle; he can also play on the wing, but he can give them more options.
Hypothetically, this could give them a chance to experiment with moving John Tavares to the wing with William Nylander and Domi and moving Dewar up to the third-line center. It is unlikely because that pushes Bertuzzi down to the third line as well, but the options are there now. Treliving had this to say about the depth forward: “He is a defensively responsible centerman. I don’t think you can have too many centermen.” This goes to show you that he and Sheldon Keefe weighed some options when they were thinking about acquiring him.
You May Also Like:
- Maple Leafs Acquire Joel Edmundson From the Capitals
- Maple Leafs Acquire Ilya Lyubushkin From Ducks
- 2024 NHL Trade Deadline Tracker
Treliving also mentioned that Matthews Knies is okay and is expected to play against the Montreal Canadiens, and that Knies being sent to the American Hockey League (AHL) was just a paper transaction. The thought behind that is that he is now eligible to play in the AHL Playoffs if the Toronto Marlies make it further than the Maple Leafs.
As for Nick Robertson, he said, “We have added depth today, so we will look to have Nick back with us before too long. I think he is going to play a role with us going forward.” My thinking is that the team could waive Noah Gregor since they have a replacement in Dewar who is more defensively sound, and recall Robertson to join the Maple Leafs, even if he has to sit out every once in a while. He has had a good season and can put the puck in the back of the net; the team needs secondary scoring.
To bring this back to what I was saying at the beginning, Treliving has given us two reasons to doubt him already. Those reasons are mentioned above; drafting Cowan as early as they did and signing Domi, Bertuzzi, and Reaves when it seemed like a waste of money. However, he had reasons for those moves and stuck by them.
For example, the signings are playoff-type players, and when did they start to turn it on? When the games start to feel like playoffs. Both times Leafs Nation had doubts, but it worked out, so what we should get from this deadline is that although he didn’t go out and get big-name players like the Hurricanes or Vegas Golden Knights, he still traded for players that he felt would have an impact on this team. So, let’s give it some time and see how things work out before we start panicking.
