The Toronto Maple Leafs season was over before the Olympic break, but reeling off eight straight loses going 0-6-2 coming back from the break solidified that.
There’s really nothing positive to take away from this season as it was abysmal from beginning to now. If you’re an optimist, the bright side is that the possibility of retaining their protected first-round pick this year– which is currently owned by the Boston Bruins from the Brandon Carlo, Fraser Minten trade– is still very much in play. However, winning their last two games, it’s getting even more tough to keep that pick.
A lot needs to work out in their favour in order for them to keep the pick, they can’t afford to lose out on a top blue-chip prospect at the hands of their divisional rivals once again.
Need to Build Prospect Pool
The Maple Leafs have a prospect pool that is bare to say the least. Yes, Easton Cowan has shown glimpses in the NHL and Ben Danford has looked like a solid, shut-down top-four option for the future. Other than that, there are some valuable names like Tinus Luc Koblar, Miroslav Holinka and Tyler Hopkins, all with upside but still some question marks.
Needless to say, if the Maple Leafs retain their first-round pick they desperately could use any of the top names. Which consists of; Gavin McKenna, Ivar Stenberg, Keaton Verhoeff, Carson Carels, Chase Reid or even Caleb Malhotra. All of which are players the Maple Leafs definitely need on their roster now.
They clearly need a highly skilled and creative playmaker that can be deceptive and patient to play with Auston Matthews, like McKenna is or they can add another hard working, pro-mindset player with Stenberg. The other big issue is their lack of speed and offense from the backend. Even if they don’t land those two, there are other names there.
While you don’t want to put guys like Verhoeff or Reid into that role right away, they both can push the pace offensively as they’re play drivers with their skating and can breakout quickly and effectively. Carels is a jack of all trades defender where he can show great compete and be impactful on both sides of the puck. Malhotra is a centre that has speed, pace, vision and an effective two-way game.
Related: Maple Leafs Can Look to Draft Lottery if the Season Continues to Go South
All five of these players have their strengths and can instantly provide an immediate impact if they make the jump.
History Can’t Repeat With Bruins
In 2008-09, the Maple Leafs were truly dreadful to watch, given that was a dark period of time for the franchise. They finished 24th in the league with .494 points percentage and ended up selecting Nazem Kadri seventh overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.
Months later, the Maple Leafs acquired gifted goal scorer Phil Kessel from the Bruins, for first and second-round picks in 2010 and their 2011 first-round pick. The Maple Leafs would go on to finish second last in the 2009-10, leading the Bruins to select Tyler Seguin second overall and Jared Knight with their second-round pick. The Maple Leafs would finish 22nd overall in the league in 2011 and the Bruins selected Dougie Hamilton ninth overall.
The Maple Leafs didn’t have a deep prospect pool then as Kadri and Luke Schenn were the only two legitimate prospects the team had. While the team was also in dire need of some offense– and Kessel did bring that during his time with the Maple Leafs– then general manager Brian Burke had no business to trade draft assets to try and cut corners and re-tool the team that was in desperate need of a major rebuild. Seguin and Hamilton could’ve help jump start that. Even with their second- round pick in 2010, the Maple Leafs could’ve had Justin Faulk or Tyler Toffoli as possible options.
Related: THW’s 2026 NHL Draft Guide
Fast forward to today, history is repeating with the Maple Leafs as the Bruins have a chance to once again crush their goal of re-building their prospect pool. The Maple Leafs are in a similar situation with the Carlo trade. Yes, he had term, they were leading their division and went all-in for a deep playoff run, which the Florida Panthers halted. Defenders are always at a premium. However, Carlo, hasn’t lived up to expectations as a tough, shut down defenseman. He hasn’t been as physical as he has been compared to his play with the Bruins in the past and his play within his own end has been sub-par.
The big difference is that the Maple Leafs first-round pick in 2026 is top-five protected, compared to the picks in 2010 and 2011 when they weren’t. It’s still a tall task for the Maple Leafs to retain that top-five pick as there’s still uncertainty as they need luck to fall into their hands with the lottery. General manager Brad Treliving tried to push the pick to have better terms but he lost the fight and now he’s in limbo with a key draft asset that will leave a tough mark on his tenure. Not fighting harder for a top-10 protection is a failure on his part. (from, ‘Fraser Minten for Brandon Carlo: The trade that haunts the Maple Leafs’, The Athletic – 3/24/26)
On top of that, no one could’ve foreseen the Maple Leafs being this bad where everyone is hoping for a top-five pick as any sort of a positive. The remaining nine games will decide their fate. If the Maple Leafs lose and get help from other teams if they win, they can improve their odds as there’s an eight-point gap between the Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, Chicago Blackhawks.
Related: Maple Leafs Reportedly Ready to Move Players Out This Summer
The Maple Leafs can’t afford to let history repeat with the Bruins. The possibility of giving them a top prospect is something they can’t do. The Maple Leafs need the likes of a McKenna, Stenberg, Verhoeff, Carels, Reid or Malhotra.
If it was a top-10 pick, they could also use a Tynan Lawrence, Daxon Rudolph, Ethan Belchetz or Alberts Smits. Letting the Bruins select one of these players could be costly as they’ll have the advantage with Minten and a top prospect for a defenseman that hasn’t given them any value.
