Well it is still a few days before the trade deadline but the Leafs went ahead and added some veteran depth. First the Leafs made a deal with division rival Ottawa adding veteran 3rd liner ‘Uncle’ Leo Komarov and depth dman Jordie Benn. The deal pushed Namestinikov down to fourth line duty and eventually meant a trade to the Devils for Carl Soderberg. Soderberg is much better suited to fourth line duties and is an unrestricted free agent this summer.

Next the Leafs sent veteran Ron Hainsey to the Wings in exchange for cash. Hainsey had requested a trade earlier in the season and was unhappy with the low number of minutes he was being given. He also seen the writing on the wall with Boqvist and Sandin pushing for Pro ice time.

Next the Leafs added some depth in goal bringing in Robin Lehner from the Blue Jackets for a 3rd. He is a pending UFA and will help lessen the workload Calder candidate Elvis Merzlikins was being asked to carry. Lehner made his debut last night with a convincing 25 save win over the Wild.

As the Leafs move towards the last quarter of the regular season the lineup looks like this:

Gabriel Landeskog – Sidney Crosby – Mitch Marner
Alex DeBrincat – Sean Couturier – Tom Wilson
Luke Glendening – Leo Komorov – Wayne Simmonds
Chris Wagner – Carl Soderberg – Ryan Reaves

Jake Muzzin – John Carlson
Jacob Slavin – Brent Seabrook
Jordie Benn – Mark Pysyk

Elvis Merzlikins
Robin Lehner

Love the mix of size, skill, defensive awareness and speed. Will that translate into a second cup win?