The Maple Leafs are heading into the 2026-27 season with a revamped group and the expectation that they’ll be better for it. If that push gets Toronto back into the playoff picture, don’t be surprised if the front office starts hunting for more help around the 2027 NHL Trade Deadline.
There are still holes to fill on this roster, and that makes the trade market worth watching. With that in mind, three former first-round picks stand out as possible targets for the Maple Leafs if they decide to get aggressive in-season.
Jake DeBrusk fits the need for another scoring winger almost immediately. Toronto could use more punch in its top nine, and the Vancouver Canucks forward checks that box while also bringing a contract that runs through 2030-31 at a $5.5 million cap hit. That kind of term gives the Maple Leafs something beyond a short-term fix.
DeBrusk has been tied to trade talk for a while now, especially with the Canucks in the middle of a rebuild. If Vancouver doesn’t move him this summer, he could easily surface again during next season. He put up 23 goals and 42 points in 81 games last season, production that would fit nicely in Toronto’s middle six and on the power play.
Morgan Frost is another name that makes sense for the Maple Leafs if they’re looking for help down the middle. The 27-year-old center is entering the final season of his contract with the rebuilding Flames in 2026-27, which is exactly why his name keeps popping up in rumors. Toronto could use him as a third-line center, and he’d also bring power-play value if acquired.
There’s flexibility here too. Frost could slide up to the second line if needed, giving the Maple Leafs another option in the middle of the lineup. Last season, he played 82 games for Calgary and finished with 22 goals and 43 points.
Then there’s Shane Wright, the biggest swing of the three. At 22 years old and already a former fourth-overall pick, he’d cost the most to land, but he also has the highest long-term upside. For a Maple Leafs team in a retool, that kind of player is worth considering.
Wright could become a long-term answer in the top six if he breaks out in Toronto. He’s the sort of young center the Maple Leafs should be willing to take a chance on, especially if they want to keep building for the future.
He scored 12 goals and 27 points in 74 games last season with the Kraken, and he also posted 19 goals and 44 points in 2024-25. A new setting might be enough to help the 2022 first-round pick unlock more of what’s there.
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Leafs Came Shockingly Close To A Franchise Changing Gretzky Move
In 1996, the Maple Leafs found themselves in range of one of the most extraordinary free-agent swings in franchise history, with Wayne Gretzky open to coming to Toronto to be near his sick father. General manager Cliff Fletcher was interested, Gretzky was interested, and for a moment the idea of the Great One in blue and white felt more real than fanciful.
What stopped the move was the kind of off-ice decision that can echo for years around a franchise, with the clubs board of directors weighing the finances and the cost of the arena project before shutting it down. Gretzky instead landed elsewhere, and Toronto was left to wonder what might have been if one of hockeys defining names had ever taken the ice there. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Face A Blue Line Debate Fans Know Too Well
Logan Stanley is the kind of defenseman that tends to split opinion quickly, and the Maple Leafs are again staring at a blue line question they know all too well. His size is obvious, and so is the appeal for a team that has sometimes looked for a little more edge on the back end, but Toronto has spent so much time building around speed and puck movement that any discussion of Stanley has to start there.
If the Leafs were to take a run at him, it would almost certainly have to be on a low-risk basis and with a limited role in mind. Even then, there is no guarantee Toronto decides the fit is worth it, which is part of what makes this feel like such a familiar debate for a club that keeps weighing physicality against the way it wants to play. [Read more 🡒]
Gavin McKenna Is Getting The Maple Leafs Support Every Prospect Needs
The Maple Leafs are setting up Gavin McKennas arrival the way a franchise hopes to handle a prized young player: with a development path built around proven voices and a clear plan for the transition to the NHL. McKenna is expected to work with trainer Andy OBrien and strength coach Jason Martin, two names tied to the same Pittsburgh development model that helped shape Sidney Crosby, which gives Toronto a familiar blueprint as it prepares for a prospect with big expectations.
Auston Matthews will also be part of that support structure, giving McKenna the kind of veteran mentorship that can matter as much as any workout or skill session once a young player reaches the league. The Leafs know the adjustment is about more than talent alone, and the goal is to make McKennas debut feel less like a leap into the unknown and more like a carefully managed step into the NHL. [Read more 🡒]