So far, Brad Treliving has resisted making a trade for a defenceman, be they deals cooked up by crackpots on the Internet or credible National Hockey League peers.
But with the deadline just over a month away, either the general manager must pull the trigger or put faith in coach Sheldon Keefe’s staff that the eight blueliners now on the roster — with maybe a Marlie in the mix — can get this team to the playoffs and perhaps into May or June.
Watching a loss such as Monday — where eight of 11 giveaways were by the back-enders, Timothy Liljegren forgot Islander Kyle MacLean was leaving the box on the tying goal and Morgan Rielly’s weak clear turned into New York’s winner — was not re-assuring in the first test of the post-all-star stretch drive.
The collective performance in the 3-2 loss underlined one of the reasons Toronto struggles to stay above .500: Too often, the reason to praise a hit from Jake McCabe, a shot block by Simon Benoit or to marvel at Mark Giordano’s 40-year-old stamina, has a counter-productive moment by them or others. And, because of that, the Leafs don’t get on a true roll to achieve separation in the standings.
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