Maple Leafs 'need' 1 player if they decide to buy at trade deadline

The Toronto Maple Leafs will likely find it very tough to be trade deadline sellers.

As a marquee franchise, it always feels like the obligation is to go for it. It's much more natural to be a buyer.

This season's Leafs may not make that easy, though. They've very much struggled for most of the campaign. 

That doesn't mean they don't have needs, though. To turn this thing around, they could certainly use upgrades, if they decide to buy.

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The Athletic's Jonas Siegel wrote in a new article what he views as Toronto's biggest "need" in a potential trade acquisition: "an upgrade on defense."

"While the Maple Leafs still need an upgrade or two in their top six, the more pressing need is on defense," Siegel writes. "The Leafs are unlikely to have Chris Tanev back this season and are relying heavily on 34-year-old Oliver Ekman-Larsson in his absence. Jake McCabe has struggled increasingly without Tanev by his side, and it’s been a bumpy defensive year for Morgan Rielly. Even a minor upgrade would help. The question now is whether the front office should still attempt to buy."

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The injury-plagued season for Tanev has been a big issue for Toronto, and it has shown in the Leafs' inability to keep up with other teams' scoring in a lot of games.

This is certainly a flawed Maple Leafs squad. Not all their problems can be fixed with just one upgrade on defense.

But if they can find one that doesn't take anything too notable away from their future, it may be worth pursuing as a last-ditch effort to improve and make something out of this rocky campaign.

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