Report: Leafs Seeking Forward Help

There's no denying that the Toronto Maple Leafs are looking for help come the March 1st Trade Deadline. Initially, it was believed that forward James van Riemsdyk could be a bargaining chip used in the acquisition of a defenseman, as the 27-year-old has one year left on his contract and his value has never been higher thanks to his 38 points in 45 games thus far. 

Yet, it looks as though general manager Lou Lamoriello believes that the organization could use a little help at the forward position, and more specifically down the middle. 

Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman has confirmed that the Maple Leafs management is actively searching for another centre to add to their forward group. With Ben Smith still out due to an injury, Friedman believes that the team wants a player who can feature behind Auston Matthews, Nazem Kadri, and Tyler Bozak. With rookie William Nylander filling in nicely as a centreman, all that's missing is a fourth-line, depth centre not named Frederik Gauthier. 

While there's no telling just who exactly the Maple Leafs have in their sights, it's certainly a wonderful problem for head coach Mike Babcock to have given how reliable all of the aforementioned players have proven to be (save for Gauthier). Still, adding a centre will not hurt this team's chances of making it into the playoffs.