The Maple Leafs scouted two division rivals during the holiday break

Brad Treliving has a lot on his plate right now, especially with concerns about not only his goaltending but if his roster is going to have enough firepower to withstand a late season push given their stars have been pretty ice-cold as of late and not just due to the frosty December temperatures.

Constantly looking for ways to improve, Treliving has already done a little bit of rearranging after letting Marc Savard go and hiring Steve Sullivan is his place. But it's certainly not going to be the only move they make, and with a season still salvageable -- he'll do what he'll have to in order to get better.

It seems that he was getting his homework done early too and wanted perhaps a better idea of who he should target coming out of the holiday break.

The Maple Leafs were part of a large group of scouts who were taking part in the Dec 21st game between Atlantic rivals Boston and Ottawa as they get a clearer picture of potential trade targets.

A total of 14 scouts from 12 different teams were all taking part with the Anaheim Ducks and St. Louis Blues doubling up with two scouts apiece.

It's not the first time Toronto has been perusing other games as they have been present at two previous New Jersey Devils games as well this season.

It's not exactly known what players exactly would be viewed as targets given that both teams are neck-and-neck and fighting for the last playoff spot in a wide-open Atlantic Division, but it's interesting to see Toronto as part of the festivities.

As much as Toronto needs to improve their team, it's hard to see them trading with the Bruins again given that they have been fleeced twice by them now and would be hard pressed to walk into a third bad deal.

Ottawa may have a better shot at coming together for a deal, but the two teams rarely make any type of deals to begin with. Their last deal came in 2022 when the Maple Leafs acquired goaltender Matt Murray for their playoff push and their most notable deal came in 2016.

The Maple Leafs traded a huge package involving Dion Phaneuf to the Senators; a deal that neither team got a ton of amazing assets out of, and Phaneuf was not as effective in Ottawa as he was in Toronto.

Boston does have a couple of names that could entice the Maple Leafs like Michael Eyssimont, Sean Kuraly, and Andrew Peeke meanwhile Ottawa has players like Nick Cousins and Lars Eller to bring either a grittier punch or a steady veteran presence to the lineup.

Either way you slice it, it's interesting to see Toronto wanting to do business 'with the enemy' in a sense. Let's just hope this time they don't get burned by another misguided and potentially rushed trade from Brad Treliving.