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The Toronto Maple Leafs made a pair of minor-league deals on trade deadline day in an attempt to boost a Toronto Marlies team that is currently outside of a playoff position and in the midst of a three-game losing streak.

Calle Rosen was reacquired from Colorado in exchange for goaltender Michael Hutchinson before Jordan Schmaltz was dealt to the New York Islanders for Matt Lorito later in the day.

Somewhat under the radar, the Toronto Marlies made another AHL deal with the Belleville Senators, as defenseman Miles Gendron was acquired in exchange for forward Nicholas Baptiste.

The most significant acqusition of the bunch is Rosen’s return to Toronto. Rosen has proven himself a top-notch blueliner at the AHL level and will slot into the top pairing immediately. His experience, ability to lead breakouts, and offensive capabilities — including on the power play — are all assets that the Marlies are in short supply of right now. The Swedish defenseman provides a real upgrade to their d-core depth, and I believe he remains a viable NHL option if needed.

Headed back in the deal, Hutchinson was surplus to requirements in Toronto. The fact they were able to fetch value for him can only be applauded. Kasimir Kaskisuo and Joseph Woll should both be playing at the AHL level, so Hutchinson’s presence would only have complicated matters.

Jordan Schmaltz showed promise for a handful of games to begin the season before we began to witness the kind of defensive fragility that has prevented his NHL career from ever really getting off the ground. Not only was he poor without the puck, his confidence in his offensive play — arguably the strongest part of his game — totally dried up.

With Mac Hollowell and Joseph Duszak both deserving of their spots in the AHL, Schmaltz’s time was up, and at least Toronto was able to flip him for an asset that might be able to help the cause this season.

That said, this season has also been a struggle offensively for Matt Lorito on a Bridgeport team rooted to the bottom of the Atlantic division with 30 losses in 56 games. His 23 points (9-14-23) in 50 games are way below his career points-per-game average of 0.83, but there is a reason for optimism: The 29-year-old is two seasons removed from back-to-backs 20+ goal campaigns and his current 9.7% shooting percentage is a career AHL-low.

Lorito won a Calder Cup with Grand Rapids in 2017 and was the team’s leading scorer through the regular season with 56 points (22-34-56) in 61 games. Primarily a left-winger, Lorito likes to shoot the puck — something Toronto could benefit from a little more of up front — and his career numbers suggest the potential for a greater offensive output than what the team was receiving from departed wingers Darren Archibald or Nic Baptiste.

Baptiste flattered to deceive during his time in Toronto, and it’s no surprise to me that the club has chosen to move on in the Lorito deal. With three goals and nine points, he was expected to provide more in the way third-line scoring depth as well as in his contributions on both sides of special teams.

Defenseman Miles Gendron is in his sophomore professional season after graduating from the University of Connecticut.

The Massachusetts native has just one AHL game to his name in 30 ECHL outings, so it was no surprise that the 23-year-old has already been reassigned to Newfoundland. The Growlers have been short on blueliners since losing the likes of Duszak and Hollowell to call-ups. so this addition should serve as some much-needed depth at the position.

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