The Maple Leafs, now larger and potentially better on the blue line, are questioning if Brad Treliving has done enough.
The six-foot-five defenseman Joel Edmundson, who was acquired on Thursday, and depth center Connor Dewar, who was acquired just before the trade deadline on Friday, are anticipated to be in the Leafs starting lineup when they play the Canadiens on Saturday at Bell Centre in Montreal.
“I’m just a stay-at-home defenseman; I just take care of my own zone.” Nothing spectacular. Making others unhappy is my responsibility. I enjoy playing hard and rough in the corners and in front of the net with a big stick. Thus, it is what I intend to bring.
Brad Treliving, general manager of the Leafs, has nothing spectacular to say about the trade deadline. Reluctant to make a major splashy move or rebuild his team’s core, he fiddled about the fringes of his roster.
After the deadline had passed by one hour, Treliving evaluated his transactions and concluded, “You’re trying to make your team better in the ways that you can.” This time, there are some significant shifts as well as more modest, gradual ones. And that’s precisely what our team was attempting to do—focus on the areas where we believe we can get better.
Treliving stated that the amount paid for Dewar on Friday was appropriate since he valued top prospects Fraser Minten, Dennis Hildeby, Easton Cowan, and his first-round draft selection in 2024.
Dewar, who was acquired by the Leafs from the Minnesota Wild, cost them a pick in the fourth round of the 2026 draft in addition to forward Dmitry Ovchinnikov, who will continue to play for the AHL’s Marlies while on loan from the Wild.
In 173 regular-season games with Minnesota, the 24-year-old Dewar—a third-round selection in 2018—had 18 goals and 20 assists. One obvious flaw among Leafs forwards was that he was a vital penalty-killer for the Wild. He’ll probably go ahead of Noah Gregor and Pontus Holmberg, who have been trading off on the left wing, on the fourth line with ease.
