Trouble brewing in Toronto’s latest trade plans!

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had a rough start to the 2025-26 season, with injuries and losses piling up, and expectations falling short. Amid the early struggles, general manager Brad Treliving met with media on Tuesday to address the franchise’s woes, taking personal responsibility for the team’s underperformance.

“We’re not where we want to be,” Treliving said. “We’ve underperformed to this point, and I take full responsibility. I’m in charge of the hockey department. I’ve put the people in place — on the ice, off the ice.”

He also emphasized his confidence in head coach Craig Berube and his staff, noting he has “all the faith” in the coaching team.

While trade rumours always swirl around a team in flux, insider Chris Johnston offered a brutal reality check.

“The view of the organization is they can’t trade their way out of this,” Johnston said on his show, adding that while the Leafs are gauging the market on second-tier roster players,

“I don’t get the sense that anything is that close.”

Treliving echoed that sentiment, highlighting the reality that the Leafs have already used significant draft and prospect capital in trades to assemble their current roster. Any meaningful solutions, he suggested, will likely have to come from within the existing group.

For a team with high expectations and a passionate fanbase, it’s a sobering message: quick fixes through trades are unlikely at this time. The Maple Leafs’ path forward will depend on internal adjustments, player development, and navigating the injuries that have hampered their start.

Captain Auston Matthews is one of the players on the sidelines and, there’s not a lot of clear timelines in terms of return for all injured players, and that includes Matthews.

As the season progresses, all eyes will be on how Toronto adapts and whether the players and coaching staff can rise to meet the high expectations around the league, and especially the city.