Brad Treliving's Trade Deadline decisions not paying off early.

The Toronto Maple Leafs fan base has seen first hand how a trade orchestrated by Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving can go horribly wrong. The Leafs will be haunted for years by the relatively recent trade of former Maple Leafs second round pick Fraser Minten.

Treliving dealt Minten to division rivals the Boston Bruins, along with a 2026 top five protected first round draft pick, and a 2025 fourth round pick, in exchange for defenseman Brandon Carlo that has quickly turned ugly for the Leafs. Carlo has been a lightning rod for criticism since joining the Leafs while Minten, who was underutilized in Toronto, has shined with the Bruins putting up 15 goals and 15 assists for 30 points in 66 games as a rookie in the National Hockey League.

Unfortunately for the Maple Leafs fan base Treliving was hard at work once again ahead of the NHL's Trade Deadline earlier this month and things are already looking like they might not play out in the Leafs favor.

One of the most controversial moves from Treliving at the deadline was the decision to move Scott Laughton to the Los Angeles Kings for a conditional third round draft pick that becomes a second if the Kings make the Stanley Cup playoffs. Treliving was heavily criticized for getting such a poor return after giving up both forward Nikita Grebenkin and a first round pick to acquire Laughton only a year earlier, and to make matters worse the Kings are currently out of a playoff spot.

The Kings have posted a record of 2 wins and 3 losses since the trade and as a result find themselves outside of the playoff picture at this time. The Kings need to make up ground to make their way into one of the Wild Card slots but the Seattle Kraken are right there with them with 1 more game left on their schedule.

Speaking of the Seattle Kraken, Bobby McMann did his best to make Brad Treliving regret his decision to let him go on Saturday night. Treliving was once again on the receiving end of criticism for fetching only a 2026 fourth round pick and a conditional 2027 second round pick when dealing McMann to the Kraken at the Trade Deadline. The conditional second round pick is the lowest of Seattle's picks in that round, making it a relatively weak second round pick on top of it.

McMann shone in his Kraken debut becoming the first player in franchise history to record not one but two goals in his debut. McMann wasn't done there either, adding an assist as well for a 3 point night and doing so while getting more ice time than in his last 14 appearances for the Leafs.

It is still too early to tell if any of these trades will truly turn into a disaster for the Leafs, but things are certainly not off to a good start.