from Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun,

With less than two weeks until the Feb. 26 trade deadline in the National Hockey League, speculation continues to heat up that the Leafs won’t do anything drastic in the way of player moves.

While it’s true that general manager Lou Lamoriello is capable of making a trade that no one sees coming (think Dion Phaneuf to Ottawa), we concur with what one NHL scout said to us on Monday night as the Leafs squared off with the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Air Canada Centre.

“The Leafs are a good young team and they are at a point in the curve that they don’t need to do anything,” the scout said.

Consider that with 73 points following a 4-3 victory against Tampa, the Leafs are within six points of the Lightning, which is in first place overall. There’s zero reason for Lamoriello to trade one of his top young players, unless the piece coming back is a bona fide No. 1 defenceman.

more