TORONTO — Now comes the litmus test for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
On Thursday, Auston Matthews said he hoped Toronto management would augment the lineup before the NHL Trade Deadline passed at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, especially with the arms race going on around the Maple Leafs in the Atlantic Division.
“Of course, you’d love to see a boost, I think, with the way that we’ve played this year and the position that we’re in right now,” the Maple Leafs captain said at the time.
Ask and ye shall receive.
Toronto was looking for a third-line center and defensive depth. In came forward Scott Laughton from the Philadelphia Flyers and defenseman Brandon Carlo from the Boston Bruins, acquired in separate trades Friday. Boxes checked.
In the end, general manager Brad Treliving and his staff filled the two most pressing needs on the roster.
But will it be enough to outduel the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning, their Atlantic Division rivals who both loaded up as well?
That onus now falls on the players to prove they can after Maple Leafs management did its job.
Matthews and his teammates talked the talk. Time to walk the walk.
Treliving insisted the moves were not in response to the marquee additions made by the Panthers in defenseman Seth Jones and forward Brad Marchand, and by the Lightning in forwards Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand.
But …
“You’re aware of what’s going on in the neighborhood,” Treliving said.
A tough neighborhood that just got tougher.
“You’re aware of that but you have to be careful of just reacting, right?” Treliving said. “You want to get as many good players as you possibly can but you’ve got to be careful of just saying, ‘One team did this, so you’ve got to do that.’
“You’re aware of obviously what’s going on around the League and in your division, your conference and all those things. But ultimately the job is to do what’s best for you, address areas you need to address, within your team setup, (NHL salary) cap-wise, roster-wise, all those types of things.”