Leafs Have Chance to Burn Kyle Dubas and Land Ontario-Born 1st Round Pick For Free: Tomasino on Waivers

Just a few hours after holding a full press conference with media at the quarter-season mark, Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving has been presented with an interesting proposition.

After stressing that the Maple Leafs couldn't trade their way out of their current slump, Treliving has an opportunity to add a former 1st round pick while giving up absolutely nothing in return.

24-year-old Mississauga native Philip Tomasino has been placed on waivers by the Pittsburgh Penguins. The forward can offer some depth to the Maple Leafs lineup while also presenting Treliving with a chance to burn his team's former general manager, Kyle Dubas, in the process.

Tomasino certainly isn't going to fix all of the Maple Leafs' problems, but he can definitely offer depth while coming with a contract ($1.75 million) that runs out at the end of this season, making him a pending unrestricted free agent.

Tomasino has yet to hit his stride in the NHL, but he's still young, and the upside is there. Given the fact that nothing needs to go to the Pittsburgh Penguins in return, and that Tomasino's current deal has no term remaining beyond this season, this seems like a very low-risk, high potential reward situation for Treliving. There's very little downside to making the claim.

Given the Maple Leafs' current spot in the standings and their obvious injury concerns, the team has nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking a gamble on the former 1st round pick. The question is, will Brad Treliving pounce?

He's already plucked a few players off of waivers this season, including Sammy Blais, Cayden Primeau and Troy Stecher, so we can't rule out the possibility.