"There were about 30 NHL scouts at the Air Canada Centre for Monday night's Leafs-Oilers game. There are less than three weeks remaining until the Feb. 27 trade deadline.

The talk of swap, the gossip of possibility, is only beginning to round into its annual crescendo.

But there's some slightly less predictable noise threatening to drown out the din of would-be deals. The Maple Leafs banged off their 10th win of 2012 on Monday. And given that their 6-3 win over a previously hot Edmonton club brought Toronto's record to a sparkling 10-4-1 since the turn of the annum, it's a distinct possibility that, contrary to the popular thrust, Brian Burke's best pre-deadline trade will be the one he doesn't make."