The Maple Leafs are in an interesting spot this year.



I don’t want to call them in-between options, but I think you can reasonably argue “they should buy” or “they should sell.” Jonas and I have had some good debates in the press box along those lines over the past few weeks, with the trade deadline looming in 18 days.



This isn’t really an argument about what the Leafs will do; that part seems relatively clear. Everything I’m hearing says they’ll make some small to mid-size additions, much like adding Brian Boyle and Eric Fehr a year ago.



They’re not going to go big either way, in other words.



It’s a worthwhile exercise to debate whether they should be more active than that, however. And I think it makes sense to break the analysis down into two parts.



Part 1, on why the Leafs should sell, is as follows.



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Everyone can see where Toronto is in the standings...