Leafs Centre Ice Fix is Coming: Trade Talks Heating Up for a Game Changing Acquisitions

According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving is open to trading assets before the March 7 trade deadline, if Toronto is acquiring a centre who has term left on their contract.

With John Tavares expected to re-sign, Auston Matthews here to stay, Max Domi signed to a multi-year contract and playing better of late, it will be interesting to see what kind of trade talks Treliving gets involved in.

The Maple Leafs don’t have a 2025 first-round pick to include in any pre-deadline trade, so it will be intriguing to see what kinds of assets Treliving is willing to part with, and exactly where he’d be looking to insert them into the lineup. Will it be a middle-six centre? Or a top-six centre, and move Tavares down a line? There are lots of options on the table for Treliving and company.

Here are five centres who could be trade targets:

Vincent Trocheck, New York Rangers

Age: 31

Contract: $5.6-million AAV, signed through 2027-28

Trade Protection: No-movement clause

While Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider are more likely to be traded by the Rangers, who are looking for a major shakeup, Trocheck fits much better into what the Maple Leafs are cooking up. That’s because Trocheck fits into what every single team is trying to cook up. The Rangers are a mess, and GM Chris Drury continues to look for ways to turn the roster on it’s head. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on Trocheck’s availability recently on an episode of 32 Thoughts.

“I’ll say this, if there as one guy who was available — and I don’t see it — that teams would be climbing up buildings to get, it would be Trocheck,” Friedman stated. “If he was available, teams would be killing themselves to get him.”

Trocheck’s trade value is through the roof this season, so this would be a trade where one of Fraser Minten or Easton Cowan gets involved — maybe both. Trocheck does it all for the Blue Shirts, in all situations. He’s as defensively sound as he is an offensive weapon, and he’s a big-game player, with 20 points in 16 playoff games during the Rangers’ most recent postseason run. Add in the fact he hits everything that moves, he’s over 60 percent in the faceoff circle, and he’s outperforming his contract in a major way, Treliving would have to pay a massive premium to pull this off.

With that said, Trocheck would be the absolute perfect fit for the Maple Leafs’ second-line centre role, however, it would be shocking to see Drury move a player of this caliber within the conference. Kaapo Kakko was dealt to Seattle, former captain Jacob Trouba was traded to Anaheim, so usually when a GM wants to move some core pieces, they ship them as far away as possible.

Nazem Kadri, Calgary Flames

Age: 34

Contract: $7-million AAV, signed through 2028-29

Trade Protection: No

Let’s get an easy one out of the way. Kadri’s a familiar face around the Maple Leafs, of course, but, is he someone President Brendan Shanahan would sign off on, considering what took place in the Stanley Cup Playoffs before Kadri was eventually traded to Colorado?

Kadri’s should be on the Maple Leafs’ radar, according to Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek.

“I have a hard time believing that somewhere down the road that the Maple Leafs don’t make a pitch for, or have a conversation about Nazem Kadri of the Calgary Flames,” Marek said on The Sheet Dec.2.

Considering the Maple Leafs don’t have $7 million in cap space heading into 2025, any move to bring in Kadri would have to have multiple layers to balance the books financially. There’s certainly some intrigue for Kadri as a trade target because of his style of play, he’s familiarity with playing in the media circus of Toronto, and the fact he’s still producing, with 25 points in his first 36 games this season.

There’s lots of pros to adding the pesky centre, but there’s also a lot of cons to consider. Kadri turns 35 at the start of next season, he’s never been a great skater, and definitely isn’t getting faster with age. All of his skating stats via NHL Edge rank him behind Tavares, so read into that what you’d like. Does circling back on a player ever work out?

J.T Miller, Vancouver Canucks

Age: 31

Contract: $8-million AAV, signed through 2029-30

Trade Protection: No-movement clause

According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the trade chatter surrounding Vancouver Canucks‘ J.T Miller has increased of late. Dreger joined Sekeres and Price on Monday and shed some light on what he’s been hearing. “What I know is, and this is based on intel and sourcing from around the league, is that there’s been a lot more chatter, certainly around J.T. Miller. I don’t think anyone would be surprised by that because his name always seems to find that rumor mill.”

The Canucks are a fragile group, who have lost more games than they’ve won this season, but remain in the playoff picture in the Western Conference. Vancouver needs help on their blueline in a major way, but admittedly, the Leafs and Canucks lining up on a deal centered around Miller will be extremely hard to pull off. Morgan Rielly isn’t likely going anywhere, anytime soon, so while that’s a one-for-one trade that makes a certain level of sense, at this point, we can likely scratch off that swap. Conor Timmins and Bobby McMann have certainly increased their trade value, but are making minimal against the cap, so that doesn’t help out when it comes to working things out financially.

At the end of the day, Miller’s game would be a huge boost to the Maple Leafs’ lineup, and he’s someone who has versatility on where he slots in within the roster, his style of play screams a Berube-led team, and the fact he can do it all, in all situations on the ice, is certainly intriguing from a trade target perspective. While unlikely at best, Miller would move the needle for the Maple Leafs in a major way.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau, New York Islanders

Age: 32

Contract: $5-million AAV, signed through 2025-26

Trade Protection: 16-team no-trade list

Perhaps the easiest on the list to acquire, Pageau’s style of play would mesh well into the Leafs’ system, it’s just his $5-million cap hit that may be hard to navigate. Pageau’s a gamer, he’d be a solid fit for the bottom-six, and he wouldn’t cost one of the Leafs’ top-five prospects to acquire.

The Islanders are likely going to be interested in moving some assets ahead of the trade deadline, as they appear set to be on the outside looking in at the playoff picture. Yes, Brock Nelson will get some looks, but strictly talking centres with at least another season left on their deal, Pageau makes the list. Style of play, right-handed centre, over 60% on draws, close to 200 hits last season, kills penalties, can be a shut-down centre in a playoff series, there’s a lot of things to like about the Maple Leafs adding Pageau to the mix. Perhaps Treliving sweetens the pot a little to get the Islanders to retain some salary?

Ryan O’Reilly, Nashville Predators

Age: 33

Contract: $4.5-million AAV, signed through 2026-27

Trade Protection: No

The Predators are nowhere near where they wanted to be this season, and GM Barry Trotz may have to pivot on his roster. O’Reilly back in Toronto seems like an absolute long shot, considering Treliving tried to re-sign him in the early days of his tenure, and the veteran forward chose Nashville out of several options. Warm weather, unreal music scene, no income tax, can you really blame him?

As far as contract, fit, and lineup structure, O’Reilly would be a fantastic addition up front for the Leafs, and it would be fun to see how much he would flourish, once again playing for Berube. The fact O’Reilly doesn’t have any trade protection makes him an intriguing option, and gives this conversation some oxygen.

Five different centres with term, all with various levels of feasibility and likeliness when it comes to trade options for the Maple Leafs. Treliving appears to be ready and willing to move out some assets for a centre who fits the Leafs’ short and long-term plans. Now we all just wait and see what exactly materializes before March 7.