The Maple Leafs are back in the headlines at the midway point of the week as we approach the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, and while the news of Morgan Rielly's willingness to finally waive his NMC for a trade out West is certainly the prominent story coming out of Toronto this week, there are a couple of other updates that are also creating a bit of a buzz in the city.
Earlier this week, a report from NHL Insider Chris Johnston suggested that the Maple Leafs have finally set their asking price for veteran defenseman Brandon Carlo. Unfortunately, the return for the Leafs is not expected to be anywhere near what they gave up to acquire the 6-foot-5 blueliner. Johnston suggests that after giving up prospect Fraser Minten and a 1st-round pick, the Leafs may net only a couple of mid-round picks following a rough run for Carlo in Toronto.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The asking price right now for <a href="https://x.com/hashtag/LeafsForever?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LeafsForever</a> defenceman Brandon Carlo is multiple mid-round draft picks, per Chris Johnston</p>— Maple Leafs News (@budsallday34) <a href="https://x.com/budsallday34/status/2069569485225255247?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 23, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Jake McCabe generating interest for the Maple Leafs
In addition, The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta has confirmed a report from TSN's Darren Dreger that the Leafs are actively discussing trades ahead of Friday's draft, and that Carlo and Rielly are indeed available. He also touched on a defenseman that the Leafs may not want to move, but someone who is generating some serious interest from rival clubs. He mentioned Jake McCabe as a player that teams are calling about.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">As <a href="https://x.com/DarrenDreger?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DarrenDreger</a> reported last hour, Toronto has a few irons in the fire and are working the trade lines. Jake McCabe has generated interest, but he has a full NTC and at this hour has not been asked to waive it. Morgan Rielly & Brandon Carlo are among the Leafs Dmen out there.</p>— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) <a href="https://x.com/TheFourthPeriod/status/2069777447608787304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 24, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
New McCabe trade rumor drawing some attention
I don't know how serious the Maple Leafs are about moving him, but I can tell you that we have come across a rumor from a source who wishes to remain anonymous that suggests that the Leafs could be interested in potentially using Jake McCabe and other assets to try to pry an impact defenseman out of Dallas.
There's no question after the Darren Raddysh sign-and-trade that the Maple Leafs are serious about righting the ship this summer, and given the rumors and reports about additional moves on the blueline and their potential interest in Sergei Bobrovsky, it's clear that they're really trying to put an emphasis on building up their backend.
Having the 1st overall pick in this year's draft is also going to be a huge boost, as it will give them a top prospect to plug directly into their forward group in either Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg, but it will be interesting to see how aggressively the team pursues additional help up front as well. Another top-6 forward certainly couldn't hurt.