Brock Nelson was out there. Mikko Rantanen was out there. Brad Marchand was out there.
But in the end, the Toronto Maple Leafs made none of those bold moves, instead getting two very steady and safe additions in center Scott Laughton and defenseman Brandon Carlo at the trade deadline.
That is so, so on-brand for the Leafs, who seem to never be able to quite do enough to put their team over the top. And after watching what the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning did with their rosters, well, you do the math.
There’s more urgency now on the Maple Leafs to win the regular-season crown in the Atlantic Division. That would see the Lightning and Panthers beat the living daylights out of each other, probably for seven long and excruciating games. And the Leafs will have to hope that will leave them with not enough in the tank to get through the next round.
But nobody should be surprised the Leafs went the safe way, because that’s pretty much what they always do.
Here’s more in today’s video column:
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