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Photo: Michael Dwyer/AP Photo

Two trades came over the NHL news wire last night. The Philadelphia Flyers acquired the defensive defenceman they were looking for in Niklas Grossman from the Dallas Stars (in return for second & third round draft picks), while the San Jose Sharks acquired perennial playoff rental Dominic Moore from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a second round draft choice. Does Holmgren’s acquisition of Grossman put to bed any rumours of a Luke Schenn move to Philly? Not necessarily.

Two rumours are abound in Leafland with the deadline approaching; an unsubstantial offer has been tabled for pending UFA Mikhail Grabovski, rumoured to be a second round pick and a prospect, a leak that was probably intentional as the Leafs and Grabovski’s party continue negotiations on a new contract. Meanwhile, the Leafs have been a confirmed destination on Rick Nash’s five-team shortlist as Columbus searches for a wealthy return for their captain. As far as the Leafs are concerned, no trade activity is close to imminent. It could depend on whether or not they’re in a playoff spot on the 27th, but barring something unforeseen, the odds are Burke sticks with his current group and sees what they’re made of down the stretch.

If the Leafs need a quick fix anywhere, it’s in goal or on the third line. Quick fixes in net are usually not readily available, certainly not on the cheap, and the Leafs have an excess of bodies as is, so it remains to be seen if we’ll see Burke change anything on his roster before the deadline comes to pass.

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Alec Brownscombe is the founder and editor of MapleLeafsHotStove.com, where he has written daily about the Leafs since September of 2008. He's published five magazines on the team entitled "The Maple Leafs Annual" with distribution in Chapters and newsstands across the country. He also co-hosted "The Battle of the Atlantic," a weekly show on TSN1200 that covered the Leafs and the NHL in-depth. Alec is a graduate of Trent University and Algonquin College with his diploma in Journalism. In 2014, he was awarded Canada's Best Hockey Blogger honours by Molson Canadian. You can contact him at alec.brownscombe@mapleleafshotstove.com.