Can the Maple Leafs get better by trading one of their stars?
It feels like something has to change with the Toronto Maple Leafs this summer, but can a 111-point team get better by trading one of its core forwards? Justin Bourne looks at a few options to consider.
Back to logic, though. The Leafs are coming off seasons of 115 and 111 points and they beat the three-time defending Eastern Conference champs in the playoffs. The Vegas Golden Knights just won the Stanley Cup a year removed from missing the playoffs, while the Florida Panthers snuck in by a point. It’s hard to feel like Toronto is that far off, or that they need a full overhaul.
So if they were to trade one of their core pieces, how do they get -- and I want to phrase this correctly... how do they get different without getting worse? They’re already in the clump of teams good enough to win the Cup. But this exact formula hasn’t worked, fans are angry, and you need to start with the vibes and energy in a different place.
For clarification: You already know that we’re talking about trading Mitch Marner or William Nylander, right? If Auston Matthews doesn’t want to re-sign that changes things, but assuming he does (and there is reason to believe he will), they’re obviously not trading him. And John Tavares is the captain with an ironclad no-trade clause, so he’s sticking around.
So if you were willing to trade Marner or Nylander -- maybe the latter on a sign-and-trade? -- what are some of the options you could pursue to get different, without getting worse (and hopefully improve a little)?
You’d love to go into a playoff series feeling like you clearly have the best goaltender, wouldn’t you?
I realize that, on the talent front, Leafs fans may not love it. Marner has twice been voted the best right-winger in the NHL, he’s a perennial 100-point-ish guy, and he’s in his prime. He gets Selke votes. He’s a star.
But he also makes almost $11 million for the next two seasons, and if we’re not leaving anything unsaid, his playoff performances have left something to be desired.
If that extra $6 million per season frees you up to pay for, say, a big portion of Dmitry Orlov’s next contract in free agency, how much better do you like the Leafs with Matthews, Nylander, Tavares, an ascendant Matthew Knies, and a few other nice pieces complemented by Saros in net and Orlov on D? Cap space is an asset, and when you trade a player for nothing (think: Max Pacioretty to Carolina for “nothing,” as Vegas did last off-season), you have to think of that open money as the asset gained. It’s a flexible asset that can become another valuable piece.
