Leafs fill blue-line spot but still ready to deal before deadline

Brad Treliving did some late-night shopping.

After addressing a glaring need on his blue line, the Maple Leafs general manager still has a long list of areas he would like to touch on ahead of the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline.

He’s also pragmatic. Toronto reacquired bruising defenceman Ilya Lyubushkin in a three-team deal late Thursday evening that involved a couple of draft picks, salary retention gymnastics, and adds just $687,500 US to the team’s cap.

Treliving met with reporters some 14 hours later to discuss the swap for the right-shooting Lyubushkin — a much-needed addition to a battered defence corps that’s heavily left-handed at the moment — and the organization’s path forward with a week to go before GMs around the league put down their pens.

“We’re short on the right side,” said Treliving, whose club dressed six lefties on the blue line the last two games. “You look throughout the marketplace and No. 1 is determining what’s available.

“There’s lots of names people want to bandy about, but you’ve got to separate reality from nonreality.”

Treliving said the concussion suffered by Mark Giordano early in Thursday’s 4-2 victory over the Arizona Coyotes didn’t factor into the Lyubushkin trade because the deal was already well down the road.

But it helps a group also minus right-shot defenders Timothy Liljegren (undisclosed injury) and Conor Timmins (mononucleosis). John Klingberg, meanwhile, is on long-term injured reserve following season-ending hip surgery.

Lyubushkin’s first stint with the Leafs lasted 31 games and one playoff round after former GM Kyle Dubas acquired the Russian from Arizona in February 2022.

The dependable 29-year-old, who could play today when the New York Rangers visit Toronto, provides almost nothing in attack, but developed good chemistry with Morgan Rielly last time around.

“Extremely competitive,” said the Leafs No. 1 defenceman of his new/old partner. “Lots of guys in here that were excited to hear the news.”

Treliving, who took over last spring, said he leaned on head coach Sheldon Keefe and a couple of locker-room voices to gauge Lyubushkin’s fit.

Toronto goaltender Ilya Samsonov trains with his countryman in the off-season, but won’t be at the airport to greet him late Friday.

“He’s coming at 10:30,” Samsonov said with a smile. “I will be asleep.”

Asked of the areas the organization would like to further address before next Friday’s trade cutoff, Treliving mentioned depth up front, more blue-line help, and the awkward, three-headed crease monster of Samsonov, Joseph Woll and Martin Jones.

“You need a dance partner that likes what you have and vice versa,” he said. “We’re going to try to be creative and see where we can help ourselves.”