LOS ANGELES — Not much of a peep from Lou Lamoriello as the National Hockey League trade deadline came and went on Wednesday.

And that’s fine.

The Maple Leafs general manager didn’t have grand plans to reshape the Leafs at the deadline, and nor should he have.

Outside of a stud defenceman, and more depth on the blue line as a whole, the Leafs already have many of the important pieces to take them well into the future.

The idea in some far-flung areas of social media that Lamoriello was speeding up, or straying from, “the plan” when he acquired Brian Boyle from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday was both funny and wrong.

The Leafs gave up nothing to acquire Boyle (nothing in the sense that Byron Froese was not going to help them on the ice and there was a stockpile of second-round picks) and even if the big centre leaves via free agency this summer, some of his hockey savvy will rub off on the kids. In the event the Leafs, who had a full day off on Wednesday, don’t make the playoffs, Boyle’s presence for a month and a bit should be a bonus.

More depth at forward came when Eric Fehr was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins, and again, at a small cost, as defenceman Frank Corrado finally was unshackled from a bizarre and unfair tenure with the Leafs organization. Fehr, under contract through 2017-18, won the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh last spring and not only should the 31-year-old’s experience help, he will be among the options for Lamoriello to expose in the expansion draft later this year.

The Leafs have their man in net in Frederik Andersen, who is signed through the 2020-21 season.

Even those who count themselves as hockey fans in passing know what the future holds only when one considers the forwards. Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander represent a hell of a trio to build around. Other crucial parts in Nazem Kadri, Connor Brown and Zach Hyman firmly are in place.

We like that Lamoriello didn’t trade James van Riemsdyk, who remains on schedule to be an unrestricted free agent following next season. At 27, van Riemsdyk remains in his prime, and it’s possible he helps land a defenceman the organization covets a year from now.

Going forward, van Riemsdyk will be a central player in the Leafs’ final charge to what would be only their second playoff appearance since 2004.

With 20 games remaining, the Leafs are in a spot few would have predicted at the season’s outset, occupying the second wild-card playoff position. If the post-season becomes a reality, coach Mike Babcock will have to get serious consideration for the Jack Adams Award as the coach of the year in the NHL.

No one would say the Leafs don’t need to improve in many ways in order to become a serious playoff contender every spring.

Those days are coming — with Matthews and Marner on the ice and Babcock behind the bench, only an unexpected fall off a cliff will stop success from happening (and these certainly are not the Leafs of Brian Burke).

Lamoriello played it smart leading up to the deadline. Would he have liked to have made improvements on the blue line? Of course.

At some point, the GM likely will have to part with an key player to get the kind of defenceman the team needs.

But that time wasn’t now, and after all, there’s much awareness of not trying to race to the finish line too quickly.

With Boyle and Fehr, the Leafs have more experience than they did when they got on a plane on Sunday to head to California.

Those moves make them better in the short term without compromising the future. That’s important to remember.

FREDDIE KEEPS BAILING OUT LEAFS

That the Maple Leafs were even close to getting at least a point in San Jose on Tuesday because of the play of goaltender Frederik Andersen can’t be argued.

But the Leafs don’t want a dependence on their goalie to become common in the final weeks of the regular season.

Andersen made 13 saves in the first period to keep his teammates in it and finished with 34 in a 3-1 Leafs loss, a game that was decided in the final two minutes.

“He is coming up big for us, but we don’t want to rely on him making huge saves like that,” Auston Matthews said. “We want to be able to box their guys out and prevent those chances.”

Against the Kings on Thursday and the Ducks on Friday, the Leafs expect more of what they experienced versus the Sharks.

“All three teams are pretty similar — they are big and heavy and they’re physical,” Matthews said. “They know how to play the game, know how to win so it’s going to be a good challenge for us.”

tkoshan@postmedia.com