The Maple Leafs pulled off a blockbuster trade Friday night with the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild to help close the gap with the Boston Bruins.
But they still have work to do.
The Bruins sit atop the NHL standings with a 41-8-5 record and 87 points. The Maple Leafs are having a strong season themselves and are in second place in the Atlantic Division. But they sit 13 points behind Boston for first place.
Late Friday night the Maple Leafs brought in reinforcements when they traded for Ryan O’Reilly and ex-Bruins center Noel Acciari. They sent draft picks and prospects to the Blues, and the Wild got involved to help retain some salary.
Toronto certainly got better with its new players, but it doesn’t fix all of the problems the Maple Leafs still have. There’s still time before the March 3 trade deadline for the Maple Leafs to acquire some defensive help and maybe even another goalie.
Still, it without a doubt makes them a better team. Perhaps the best team they’ve had in quite some time.
There’s no denying O’Reilly’s talent. He’s great on the penalty kill and can win faceoffs. He’s also a Conn Smythe winner from the 2019 season when the Blues beat the Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. But a blocked shot in December resulted in O’Reilly missing six weeks. That, of course, will stagger his goal scoring. The Leafs also gave up a bevy of draft picks and prospects for two players who may not re-sign in Toronto after this season.
But if the Maple Leafs are in win-now mode, then they need to do whatever they can to try to win a playoff series.
The Bruins have a seven-point lead over the Carolina Hurricanes in the Atlantic — a lead they hope to maintain the rest of the regular season. Should that happen, Boston will play a wild-card team in the Stanley Cup playoffs in April. With the way things are now, Toronto would face the Tampa Bay Lightning. If The B’s and Leafs both win, then they’d meet in the second round.
These two teams are no strangers at facing each other in the playoffs, and the Maple Leafs are no stranger to losing in Game 7, but a roster that includes O’Reilly while it already boasts Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and John Tavares only will make it more difficult for both sides should a second-round series go seven games.
It’s fair to wonder whether this move gives the Bruins any urgency to make a substantial move at the trade deadline. They’re a good team, to say the least, and certainly would benefit from some defensive depth or even another forward, especially now that the Leafs have offensive depth up and down their lineup. Maybe general manager Don Sweeney places a call to the Blues given they seem to be in sell mode.
Ivan Barbashev would be a nice fit and has been linked to the Bruins of late.
The Bruins can ill-afford to stand down and watch teams around them get better at this year’s trade deadline, especially if they want to win another Stanley Cup with Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Brad Marchand on the roster.
The new-look Maple Leafs will meet the Bruins on April 6. By then the trade deadline will have come and gone and both teams could look different than they do Feb. 18. Regardless of what happens, fans could be in for a potential playoff preview.
And it’s always a battle when the two rivals face off.
