{"id":42542,"date":"2019-02-26T15:24:57","date_gmt":"2019-02-26T20:24:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=42542"},"modified":"2019-02-26T15:25:28","modified_gmt":"2019-02-26T20:25:28","slug":"toronto-maple-leafs-deadline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2019\/02\/26\/toronto-maple-leafs-deadline\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking Down The Toronto Maple Leafs Deadline"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a>\u00a0had a very quiet trade deadline. Only making a single deal when GM Kyle Dubas traded center\u00a0Par Lindholm<\/a><\/strong> for Nic Petan<\/a><\/strong>. Fans took this as an opportunity to criticize\u00a0GM\u00a0Kyle Dubas<\/strong>. Mostly\u00a0for not acquiring any “size,” “grit” or “toughness”. Staying quiet on deadline day is not necessarily the sign of failure, however.<\/p>\n

A Quiet Deadline For the Leafs<\/h1>\n

First, let’s look at the trade Dubas did make. Petan seems to be an upgrade on Lindholm. While Petan has been poor offensively, he has been a very effective defensive forward (Petan on the left, Lindholm on the right).<\/p>\n

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Graphics by Micah Blake McCurdy.<\/a><\/p>\n

This will upgrade the fourth line. Looking to rely more on skill as opposed to a few years ago when the Leafs had size and strength between\u00a0Brian Boyle<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Matt Martin<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0The Leafs offence\u00a0did not need any major tweaking, as much as fans wanted someone like\u00a0Wayne Simmonds<\/a><\/strong> on the roster. The lineups just need to be optimized.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Trades the Leafs Didn’t Make<\/h2>\n

The Edmonton Oilers<\/a>\u00a0seemed to be pushing hard for right winger\u00a0Connor Brown<\/a><\/strong>. However, nothing ever materialized. Brown was a player that’s been named quite a few times as a player that needs to be traded. This is in order to free cap space for next season.<\/p>\n

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As reported by @NHLbyMatty<\/a> sounds like Oilers took a run at getting Connor Brown from Leafs but couldn\u2019t make a deal work. My guess, Benning would have been the player they were pitching in return.<\/p>\n

— Ryan Rishaug (@TSNRyanRishaug) February 25, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n