The Toronto Maple Leafs had scouts checking out four different teams on Tuesday as trade talks start to heat up with John Chayka looking to make a splash.
Right now the Maple Leafs are dealing with some serious injury concerns. While Chris Tanev is on the mend and could play this weekend against Vancouver, the team is out Kirill Marchenko, John Tavares, Nick Blankenburg, Marshall Rifai, and several others early on in the 2026-27 season.
There is a hope that Marchenko's injury isn't as bad as it seems, and Tanev's return is a nice boost. But Tavares is far from returning and there's no updates on either Rifai or Blankenburg - so it's anyone's guess as to when they're ready to come back.
Toronto getting some extra intel as trade talks ramp up
That has made a trade even more important because the Maple Leafs are in desperate need of insurance, and on Tuesday night they made sure they had eyes on some players:
-
-
The Maple Leafs sent scouts to two separate games, checking out the Blue Jackets and Flyers as well as the Kings and Blackhawks, with a couple teams providing some interesting options.
Toronto is no stranger to trading with Columbus, as that's where they added Marchenko from and could be looking to add potentially one of two players - Dmitri Voronkov or Zach Werenski.
The Blackhawks are a bit of a sleeper team but do hold two intriguing pieces in Kevin Korchinski and Frank Nazar. Toronto wants to add mobility and offense on the blue line and Korchinski is a perfect addition for that, and Nazar is a young 2C who can step up and replace John Tavares down the line.
Will the Maple Leafs even make a trade?
While you can never really guess what John Chayka is going to do, the Maple Leafs GM did full-on admit that he is willing to make another blockbuster deal so long as it brings in the right personnel.
Nothing is guaranteed but with how injuries have affected the team this season and question marks about their durability, it might be more of a necessity to make a deal as opposed to flat out just trying to improve.
The team has depth options that can fill in for sure, but if they want to compete in the postseason they are going to need more than just a couple extra bodies in the lineup - they need needle-movers.
It would be a bit rash to trade Easton Cowan however Toronto has both Ben Danford and their 2027 first-rounder willing to be dangled, so while the Maple Leafs haven't made a deal yet.
It looks like they're taking the steps to make one happen very soon.
Do you think the Maple Leafs are close to making a trade?
Also read on Hockey Patrol :
Viral social media doctor diagnoses Kirill Marchenko's frightening injury