Why the Maple Leafs Must Avoid Top Trade Before the NHL Trade Deadline

Named as one of the teams who are going to be buyers at the deadline, the Toronto Maple Leafs have several options they can look at when it comes to shoring up the holes in their lineup and making that big Stanley Cup push they've sought for years.

But after being linked to such big names like Brock Nelson and Brayden Schenn, the question turns to how much it'll cost. According to one NHL analyst: It might be detrimental to make a big trade. Especially for Schenn.

There's no doubt that Schenn could add a lot to the Maple Leafs, but is it truly going to be worth the cost?

While it would be a fantastic add for the Maple Leafs, adding Brayden Schenn would hurt the team too, at least in terms of the future.

The cost of Schenn is no doubt including Easton Cowan and Toronto's first-round pick in either 2026 or 2027, plus another prospect or NHL-ready player at least.

Is that worth it for a 33-year old 3C? He's only slightly younger than John Tavares, and with questions about his potential regression in the coming years; is Schenn far behind?

He's on pace for the lowest numbers of his career offensively, and is gonna need to pick up the scoring pace if he wants to keep his 20-goal season streak alive.

His defense has also regressed, and while that's in part to St. Louis struggles this year, even when they've had down years he's been good but this year is different.

Schenn does add a ton of toughness and loves to throw hits, which would play well into Craig Berube's playbook.

Speaking of Berube, bringing in Schenn would reunite him with the coach that led him to his only Cup in 2019.

This season, Schenn has 11 goals and 21 assists in 57 games while adding 144 hits and winning over 50% of his face-offs.

But is adding another 6-7 goals and 10 assists plus worsening defense worth a trade for Cowan? It's hard to find logic there, unless Schenn guarantees a Cup; which is far from certain.

Then there's also the issue of paying him his $6.5M contract for not only this season but the next two on top of figuring out Mitch Marner, John Tavares and Matthew Knies' contracts.

If Toronto could get away with trading a handful of lower-end/mid-tier prospects and a bunch of lower picks for Schenn then it wouldn't be much of an issue, but GM Doug Armstrong is going to be like his namesake and strong-arm the Maple Leafs in a deal no doubt.

Brad Treliving needs to make a splash at the deadline, but if he dives in headfirst for Brayden Schenn, he could find himself in shallower water than he anticipated.