The 2025 NHL Trade Deadline for the Toronto Maple Leafs will be one for the books. General Manager Brad Treliving only made 2 moves, but they were moves that got Leafs Nation rocking all day long.

Toronto Acquires Scott Laughton, 2025 fourth-round pick and a 2027 sixth-round pick

The Maple Leafs reportedly had their sights set on Blues captain Brayden Schenn, and when that didn’t work out they shifted their focus to the Oakville native, Scott Laughton. Laughton has been a career Flyer, and in his age-30 season, Laughton notched 27P in 60GP this year with Philadelphia. When asked if he grew up cheering for the Maple Leafs as a kid in Oakville, Laughton listed his guys he grew up cheering for.

“They were my team,” he said. “I liked the tough guys — I liked Wade Belak and Tie Domi, Garry Valk, guys like Darcy Tucker and Shayne Corson. It was so cool going to those games and watching those guys. I was a Leaf fan growing up.

Toronto traded forward Nikita Grebenkin and a 2027 1st round draft pick. Grebenkin only got into a handful of games this season for Toronto, but he instantly became a fan favorite with his style of play and his character in his post game interviews.

Laughton has another year left on his current deal. This was something Brad Treliving wanted to focus on this deadline; getting guys with term. Laughton immediately slots in as the new 3C beside Bobby McMann and Nick Robertson. With retention in this deal as well, Toronto has Laughton on the books for $1.5M for this season and next.

Trade Grade: B+

Toronto Acquires Brandon Carlo

This one came right out of the blue. As the trade deadline came to a close, we waited for the next few minutes for the final trades to come trickling through. The news then dropped: Brandon Carlo to Toronto. Once we thought that the Bruins would never trade with the Maple Leafs, let alone a guy with term who is the backbone of their defense.

“Yeah, definitely a shocker when I heard that it was Toronto,” Carlo said. “But then it’s pretty instant that you can kind of look at the group that they got there — Auston Matthews, one of the best goal scorers if not the best goal scorer in the game, facilitated by so much.”

Toronto traded a 2026 1st round draft pick, along with prospect Fraser Minten and a fourth round pick for the retained Brandon Carlo. Fraser Minten was a highly touted prospect for the Maple Leafs, but you have to part with talent in order to get talent back.

Like Laughton, Carlo has a bit of term left. He’s under contract for the rest of this season, and the next two as well. Carlo will be 30 when his deal ends, giving him a prime position to cash in on a long term deal – hopefully with Toronto. Carlo will be on the books for $3.485M, 15% retained from his original $4.1M cap hit.

Trade Grade: A

While it may not have been a deadline like Dallas or Colorado had, Toronto addresses some of their needs with great acquisitions who still had term. The Maple Leafs will try to contend for a Stanley Cup this season, but if they cannot complete their goal they’ve set themselves up in a great position for next season as well. Their focus will shift to resigning their star players.