NHL Trade Rumors: Why Toronto Maple Leafs Must Look to Add at Trade Deadline

It has been six long years since the mighty Toronto Maple Leafs have qualified for the postseason, giving them the second-longest playoff drought in the NHL. With that in mind, it is imperative that the Leafs make moves at the trade deadline to solidify their playoff positioning.

For the past few weeks, Bob Mitchell of the Toronto Star has been analyzing Maple Leafs trade rumors on a daily basis. There has been no shortage of players rumored to be going to Toronto, but the common theme is that all of them have been forwards.

It certainly makes sense since the Leafs have a solid goaltending tandem in James Reimer and Jonas Gustavsson, as well as a deep and talented defense corps. Toronto has a good group of forwards too, including two of the league's leading scorers in Phil Kessel and Joffrey Lupul, but improvements can be made.

The likes of Tim Connolly, Nikolai Kulemin and Matthew Lombardi have underperformed in a big way, so there is an obvious need for secondary scoring aside from the top line. There have been rumors regarding lower-level acquisitions like Dustin Penner, Derick Brassard and Ryan Malone. All of them could help the team, but Toronto would be best off going for the gusto.

One way to do that would be to acquire Columbus Blue Jackets forward Rick Nash. Mitchell presented a scenario a couple weeks ago that would bring Nash and forward Kristian Huselius to the Leafs in exchange for forwards Mikhail Grabovski and Nazem Kadri, as well as defensemen Luke Schenn and Mike Komisarek.

There is no question that it seems like a hefty price to pay, but in order to get a high-impact player like Nash, talent has to go in the other direction. Grabovski is having a solid season, but he is a free agent at the end of the year. Kadri has a ton of talent, but he has been unable to stick with the big club to this point.

Schenn is a solid defensive defenseman, but with so much depth in the NHL and the minors on defense, the Leafs can afford to part with him. Komisarek is little more than a salary dump as he is a shell of his former self and the Maple Leafs would be more than happy to be rid of his $4.5 million cap hit.

In return the Leafs will be getting Nash, who has had six 30-goal seasons during his career. Although he has a massive cap hit of $7.8 million through the 2017/18 season and is having a down year by his standards with 18 goals on the season, he is the offensively-gifted power forward the Leafs lack.

Huselius shouldn't be discounted in this deal either. He has played only two games this season due to a groin injury, but when healthy he is a productive offensive player. From 2006-07 through 2009-10 Huselius put up seasons of 77, 66, 56 and 63 points, respectively.

Hypothetically speaking, if this deal were to go through, then it would give the Leafs three very solid lines with Tyler Bozak centering Kessel and Lupul, Nash on a line with Connolly and Clarke MacArthur, and a third line of Lombardi, Kulemin and Huselius.

Defensively they would lose two players, but youngsters like Jake Gardiner and Keith Aulie could step up. This would admittedly hurt Toronto's overall depth as injuries could prove very costly, but in terms of top-end talent it would be a big step forward.

The Leafs as currently constructed are a borderline playoff team as their No. 8 seed suggests, but adding a major weapon like Nash makes them a threat to do some damage. General manager Brian Burke's goal is never simply to make the playoffs, but to succeed in the playoffs.

With Nash in the fold, the Leafs would break end their playoff drought, but they would also be a team to be reckoned with.