The Toronto Maple Leafs find themselves in a tough situation, do they go out and make a big splash with a trade, or do they try and tough out what has been an awful start to the season? Well, general manager Brad Treliving feels that before they make a trade, they need to ensure this team is playing the right way. But then, Elliotte Friedman reported that the Maple Leafs are looking to make a roster for roster trade to improve their roster.
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Which had me thinking, who would the Maple Leafs trade if they were to make a roster for roster trade? I covered that in a previous article “3 Maple Leafs Players That Could Be Moved In a Roster-For-Roster Trade“. And then I wondered, who would be a few teams that the Maple Leafs could trade with? So, without further ado, let’s take a look at a few teams that they could complete a roster for roster trade with.
Nashville Predators
First up, the struggling Nashville Predators. After making a big splash during the 2024 offseason, it really hasn’t worked out for them. They have had an awful time in their new era and will likely need to start over and make some trades to clear some salary cap from their team. And the Maple Leafs could be a team that they look to trade with. There are a few names that stand out from the Predators roster.The first one being Ryan O’Reilly. Although unrealistic to most, the Maple Leafs’ head coach is Craig Berube, who is someone that he played very well under during his time with the St. Louis Blues, where he won a Stanley Cup.
Nashville Predators center Ryan O’Reilly celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal against the Vancouver Canucks (Steve Roberts-Imagn Images)
There is another former Toronto forward in Michael Bunting, who played very well with Auston Matthews during his time with the club, who could be an option. As for some of the big named players like Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, the Maple Leafs should steer clear of taking on those contracts. Obviously, the Predators are heading for a rebuild, where they hope to turn things around and get back to being competitive. Sometimes, in order to do that, teams have to tear it down and start fresh. Barry Trotz is going to be tasked to make some hard decisions. Which will include who exactly to trade.
St. Louis Blues
Next up, the aforementioned St. Louis Blues. They are in a similar spot to the Maple Leafs; they are a very skilled team but something just isn’t clicking like it should. As a result, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them being sellers at the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline. If that were to be the case, Toronto should inquire and see what they have to offer that could help them turn around this season. They are an older team, but their veterans would fit in well with a Maple Leafs team that looks out of sorts.
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A few names that stand out are Brayden Schenn, who is an absolute battler and could help solidify things down the middle for the group. There is also Pius Suter, who is unlikely to be dealt considering that he just signed with the Blues this past offseason. But he would bring a ton of depth scoring to a Maple Leafs team that has struggled badly in that category. On defence, the most obvious choice is Colton Parayko. If he were ever to be made available, there would be at least a dozen teams interested. Treliving would need to get creative, but if he could package Brandon Carlo in this deal, it wouldn’t make the Fraser Minten trade look so bad. Parayko would be a near perfect fit for what the Maple Leafs need on their blue line.
Vancouver Canucks
At first, I was going to have the Calgary Flames in this spot for Nazem Kadri and Rasmus Andersson. But then last night the report came out that the Vancouver Canucks were listening to offers on their veterans and without question it needed to be changed. The Canucks have a lot of veterans that could be of interest to the Maple Leafs. As my colleague Jesse Courville-Lynch wrote about in his recent piece, Kiefer Sherwood, Jake DeBrusk and Conor Garland are three very good options for Toronto.
Kiefer Sherwood, Vancouver Canucks (Bob Frid-Imagn Images)
But there are even more. Lukas Reichel, although not a veteran, has been a healthy scratch for them. He is a center who could fit in well within their bottom six. As well as Drew O’Connor, who is a player that I felt Toronto should have acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins. He would fit in well with Nicolas Roy on a third line. On the blue line, there is Tyler Myers who is a right handed shot that could be of interest, but also Fillip Hronek, who is also a right handed shot and could be a part of a trade involving a Morgan Rielly trade, if he ever agreed to waive his no movement clause. The Canucks have plenty of options, especially for a team that is looking to make a roster for roster style trade.
