Brandon Carlo, Nick Robertson among 4 Maple Leafs on Daily Faceoff’s Trade Board

The Toronto Maple Leafs had four players appear on Daily Faceoff’s NHL Trade Board, headlined by defenceman Brandon Carlo and forward Nick Robertson.

Carlo and Robertson were among the 45 players included in the list to commemorate a critical point in the NHL schedule, with American Thanksgiving on Thursday. It is the point of emphasis that is usually a good indicator of which teams are bound for the playoffs and which are bound to miss.

Toronto is on the outside looking in, which means many insiders will likely consider them as sellers, if the current trends of poor play continue.

Carlo landed in the first tier of the ‘Most obvious trade candidates’ column, with the keen reminder that he was rumoured to be in trade talks with the Buffalo Sabres, in a potential deal for J.J. Peterka and Bowen Byram. The 29-year-old remains out of the lineup as he works back from an injury, but there is a good chance Carlo could be elsewhere by season’s end.

Robertson was listed in the second tier of ‘Names to keep an eye on’ due to him playing exceptionally well and potentially being able to recoup a better return. It is certainly plausible that a move does materialize, but there is a better chance that the Leafs hang onto him since he is making the most of his chance and has become a key member of the team.

Morgan Rielly was featured in tier three in the category of ‘Big names, Blockbuster Potential, but too soon.’ Daily Faceoff’s reasoning for him being included was because of the hypothetical scenario of the Leafs blowing it up if the losing persists, though it’s more realistic that he stays on regardless of how the year progresses. Finally, Scott Laughton was included in tier four of ‘Theoretical trade chips if their teams fall out of contention’ for likely similar reasons to Rielly. It is more likely that the Leafs try to retain him than dangle him in a trade, but who knows where things shake up in the weeks ahead.