If you're hoping for a big trade from the Leafs, one NHL Insider has some bad news for you
The Toronto Maple Leafs aren't off to a horrendous start at 6-4-2, but when you consider that the Anaheim Ducks, of all teams, are currently 7-4-0, there are certainly some alarm bells going off in Toronto.
There's been a lot of talk early on this season about the Leafs perhaps needing a bit of a roster shake up already. Usually teams don't begin thinking about trades until around the 20-game mark, but in some cases, like the one in Calgary for instance, a move or two a little sooner might make some sense. However, one NHL Insider, Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, doesn't believe the Leafs are a team who will push the panic button and make a move anytime soon.
These results that we've seen, to this point, are probably about as middling as they could be. I'd imagine, at some point, your forward group is going to click better than it has. You're going to get more consistency out of Marner and Matthews. You're going to see more from Bertuzzi at some point - how many stretches like this of 10 games in his career has the production been where it's been [in Toronto]? Probably not many.
I'd imagine there's probably a bit of a patient approach [in Toronto] in that you also don't want to try to wedge a square peg into a round hole." - Seravalli on the likelihood of the Leafs making a trade soon
It's true that the team has a lot of new pieces and may need a little more time to see how things fit and how it all plays out. That said, I don't know how much time you can actually spend pondering over something that is so clearly disjointed right now. Yes, it's possible that things turn around, but dropping so many points so needlessly this early in the season is concerning nonetheless.
Personally, I think a move is required sooner than later and that the Leafs do need to add a defenseman or upgrade over someone who is currently on the roster. If not, they'll run the risk of damaging the confidence in the locker room. Furthermore, upgrading the D corps may help solve some of the issues plaguing Ilya Samsonov right now.
The season is 82 games long and the trade deadline is still several months away, so there's plenty of time to sort out the issues, yes. However, the sooner they sort these issues out, the sooner the team can begin building those playoff habits. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not have them still working on building those better habits in March or April.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 7 | 293 ANSWERS If you're hoping for a big trade from the Leafs, one NHL Insider has some bad news for you When is the latest you'd like to see the Leafs make their first trade? | ||
| American Thanksgiving | 157 | 53.6 % |
| Christmas | 71 | 24.2 % |
| All-Star weekend | 25 | 8.5 % |
| Trade deadline | 40 | 13.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
