If you didn’t get your information anywhere but Twitter, then the Toronto Maple Leafs would seem to be a team in disarray, but things aren’t really as bad as the fans and media would have you believe.
The Toronto Maple Leafs did lose again in the playoffs, and they changed their coach, and everyone seems to be talking about trading a player who appears to be on pace to become the second-best player in the 100 year history of their franchise.
I’ve been on record many times as saying that trading Mitch Marner is a mistake. The Leafs shouldn’t be looking to trade their second best player. He’s 27 and has been on pace for 100 points in four straight seasons.
He also plays elite defense, and the Leafs are 95% guaranteed to lose any trade involving him.
That said, if there is a trade you can actually win, anyone should be available in a trade. I am not so much against trading Mitch Marner as I am against losing a trade. If the Leafs can win the trade, I’m all for it. (all salary and no-trade info capfriendly.com).
You can't make this up:
The Toronto Maple Leafs once traded for Ryan O'Reilly and his Conn Smythe Trophy b/c he is a "Playoff Warrior" and have to trade Marner b/c he "sucks in the playoffs" but ROR didn't even make it out of the 1st round until he was older than Marner is now.
— Editor in Leaf (@EditorinLeaf) May 24, 2024
Toronto Maple Leafs on the Verge of Greatness
The Leafs, in reality, are a near-great team with a ton of young building blocks (Robertson, Woll, Knies, Liljegren) and a fantastic core.
Their problem isn’t their core players, as much as it was Brad Treliving had an awful first year as GM – bad summer, sat out the trade deadline and then his starting goalie in the playoffs was a guy who cleared waivers in January.
The Leafs exceeded expectations by taking Boston to game seven as underdogs, and likely could have won if Treliving added anything at the deadline besides Joel Edmundson.
Their problem this year is the same as it’s been forever – they haven’t been able to augment their superstars with enough homegrown talent, and they don’t have a top-ten defenseman or goalie on their roster.
The first one is almost certainly taken care of. The Leafs have a great group of young players and also have Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten on the horizon.
To get the goalie and defenseman, and to do it without trading Marner will be difficult, but it shouldn’t be impossible.
Therefore, here are the five players they should target this summer in a trade.
Ilya Sorokin
Ask any informed person to name the top-five goalies in the NHL and Ilya Sorokin will inevitably be brought up.
The 28 year-old goalie should be the Toronto Maple Leafs #1 off-season trade target after Patrick Roy benched him in the playoffs.
Sorokin is in the last year of his deal, and has already signed an extension that will start next year – an eight-year deal that pays him $8.5 million per season
The deal has a full no-movement clause.
But, Sorokin might not exactly be pumped to spend the next eight years with Patrick Roy as his coach. I have no idea how he feels, but pro athletes don’t generally like sitting on the bench in the playoffs.
The one game he played was garbage, and he did not have a good season. The Islanders probably don’t want to trade him, and he probably doesn’t want to move.
But you have to at least try.
This is a legitimate franchise goalie in a league where that is both the most important thing to have and the hardest thing to find.
Capitalizing on another team’s mistakes is pretty much the key to success in any game, and the game of being an NHL GM is no different. The Islanders, at the very least, have created a bad situation, and the Leafs could remedy it.
Now, I don’t really think the Leafs should trade Mitch Marner, but if they absolutely are intent on doing so, this should be their first call.
I don’t see how you could get Sorokin for less.
Jusse Saros
Like Sorokin, Saros is likely one of the NHL’s five most talented goalies.
The reason you don’t want to swap Marner for a goalie is because the goalie is so unpredictable. If healthy, Marner will continue to score at a 100 piont pace and provide top-level defense.
Saros or Sorokin could be the next Andrei Vasilevskiy or they could play like they did this past year. Hard to know for sure, which is why elite forwards rarely get traded for a goalie, even though an elite goalie is far more important.
If the Leafs want Sorokin, he’s going to cost Marner. If the Leafs want Saros, he might not. Saros is playing in front of one of the best goalie prospects in the world, and is due for a massive pay increase the cheap Nashville Predators might not be down with.
The reason you don’t want to swap Marner for a goalie is because the goalie is so unpredictable. If healthy, Marner will continue to score at a 100 piont pace and provide top-level defense.
Saros or Sorokin could be the next Andrei Vasilevskiy or they could play like they did this past year. Hard to know for sure, which is why elite forwards rarely get traded for a goalie, even though an elite goalie is far more important.
If the Leafs want Sorokin, he’s going to cost Marner. If the Leafs want Saros, he might not. Saros is playing in front of one of the best goalie prospects in the world, and is due for a massive pay increase the cheap Nashville Predators might not be down with.
Saros is of course, about 100x more realistic.
Jacob Chychrun
Chychrun is probably never going to be the elite number-one minute muncher that Ottawa hoped for.
But it’s not impossible that he does become that – he’s never been a great team, or even a good team.
He is a pending UFA who makes under $5 million and thus represents an abundance of value. The Leafs really made a mistake in making their blue-line less mobile and worse at moving the puck, and getting Chychrun would vastly improve those things.
Chychrun is a steal at his current price point, and will excel on the Leafs who will likely rush the puck more and make more long passes under their new coach.
This gives the Leafs a player with some upside, a great contract, and a chance to prove it as he heads to unrestricted free-agency.
He will make the Leafs better, and addresses their biggest weakness which is their inability to move the puck up the ice.
It’s a longshot he becomes the number-one they’ve long sought, but a trade like this is pretty low-risk and could allow them to take a shot at Brett Pesce in free-agency.
Zach Werenski
He’s 26 and makes almost $10 million per year.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are getting a new GM and might want out of this deal. It’s not exactly a great deal, but if you think a 26 year old whose always played on one of the worst teams might be better in a different context, this is the player to target.
Werenski is a huge risk.
Injuries, a bad, long contract, and who knows what you’re going to get.
BUT
You’d be trading for a distressed asset, which means you might get him cheap, or maybe even with some salary retention. The Blue Jackets are a long, long way from being a contender and would love out of this deal, one assumes.
The Leafs aren’t going to find an Alex Pietrangelo or Zdeno Chara in this year’s free-agent crop. No one is trading them a Mikko Heiskanen for Mitch Marner.
So if they want a number-one D-man, they’ve got to look under some rocks.
Werenski might be next to free if you took on his full contract. Considering the Leafs sat $11 million on the bench in game six vs Boston, cap space might not be such a problem for them anymore.
Bonus Choices
Turns out I couldn’t pick between my last three ideas to settle on the number 5.
The following three players are all number-one defensemen and would help the Leafs immensely, but they are also all under contract, signed long-term and have no-trade protection.
But, as we’ve seen, that doesn’t mean you won’t get moved. You have to figure most hockey players would be open to coming to Toronto, especially with Auston Matthews.
So, if the first four options don’t work out, here are another three:
Jonas Brodin – Minnesota Wild.
Super underrated, and 30 years old. I doubt the Wild want to trade him, but you don’t know unless you ask.
MacKenzie Weegar
Brad Treliving traded for him in the Tkachuk trade, and he’s signed for almost a decade and is 30 years old. That is fine for the Leafs, but not so much for the rebuilding Flames.
The Flames won’t be good again while Weegar is still in his prime.
His contract should make him cheaper to acquire than he he should be, and he obviously helps the Leafs were they need it most. Unlikely, but I think a good idea never the less.
Vince Dunn
Since most teams won’t trade you cost-controlled stars in their early 20s, you’ve got to find players who play for bad teams that aren’t likely to compete while that player is still in their prime.
Brodin, Weegar and Dunn all fit this idea. All three of them would be a good choice for the Leafs and likely wouldn’t require trading one of their best players to make it happen.
Dunn is really underrated, and just 27 and signed for under $8 million. The Kraken probably think they are close enough to keep him, but it wouldn’t hurt to ask.
