Brad Treliving’s push to land Brayden Schenn at the 2025 trade deadline could have left the Toronto Maple Leafs in an even uglier spot than they’re in now.
Back in January, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on 32 Thoughts: The Podcast that Treliving was actively chasing a center and that Schenn was the Leafs’ primary target. Friedman said the Blues were asking for Easton Cowan, Ben Danford, and possibly another draft pick. The deal then hit a wall when Schenn would only waive his no-trade clause for Toronto if his brother Luke was included too.
“Friedman on 32T says at the deadline last year he believes the Blues told the Leafs if they wanted Schenn it’s Cowan, Danford, and something else, possibly a pick. That was on the table
But Friedman heard the deal fell apart when Schenn wouldn’t waive without Luke coming as well”
What makes that report sting even more now is what the Leafs were already willing to do at that same deadline. Toronto sent out Fraser Minten, Nikita Grebenkin, and two first-round picks for Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo. That kind of move suggests Treliving was ready to keep spending if the right name came available, and the Schenn package would not have been out of character.
The idea of losing Cowan now feels especially brutal. He has taken off this season, first earning a look on the third line and then jumping up to Auston Matthews’ wing, where he has looked like he belongs. Through 12 games, Cowan has five goals and 11 points.
The concern isn’t just what Toronto would have given up in the moment. The article points to a chain reaction that could have gone much further. Fraser Minten is already viewed as a bona fide second-line center at 22, and adding Cowan to the list of departed young pieces would have made the damage far worse.
The piece also argues the fallout could have reached the franchise’s biggest star. If the Leafs had gone through with that kind of deadline haul, plus the other moves they made, Auston Matthews might have reached a breaking point. The article imagines a future in which Matthews, William Nylander, Schenn, and John Tavares were simply getting older around a roster with little else to build around beyond Matthew Knies.
It even notes that Treliving later tried to trade Knies to the Montreal Canadiens for only picks and prospects.
In the end, the report leaves Toronto with one clear takeaway: Schenn’s unwillingness to waive without Luke may have saved the Leafs from a trade that would have gutted the roster.
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