3 Hypothetical Trades the Toronto Maple Leafs Should Make

Trade #1: Nylander Heads to New Jersey

Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: P.K Subban (New Jersey Devils retain 50% of salary), 2021 1st Round Pick (*Condition: Top-Five Protected*)

New Jersey Devils acquire: William Nylander

Salary Cap implications: Toronto saves $2.46 million

This is crazy, right? It has Adam Larsson for Taylor Hall vibes, but hear me out.

Subban is only two years removed from being a Norris Trophy nominee and his stock has never been lower.

If the New Jersey Devils are able to retain 50 percent of this salary, it makes the trade worth while. Nylander is an exceptional talent but the Leafs have more than enough offense up-front.

Sure, Subban isn’t your typical stay-at-home defenseman that the Leafs could use, but he fits the mold of this team perfectly. He has the offensive talent to bring the puck up the ice and do everything the Leafs wished that Tyson Barrie would have done this year.

If the Devils aren’t willing to take on 50 percent of the salary, this trade doesn’t make sense because you can’t afford to pay Subban $9 million for the next two seasons. But, at $4.5 million, you might find the Norris Trophy nominee he once was.

Subban is a big-moment type of player and he’s from Toronto. The experiment didn’t work in New Jersey because nobody cares about the Devils. If he was in the spotlight in Toronto, he would shine and I think you’d be getting a born-again player.

Not only would Subban give you the right-handed defenseman the Leafs need, but they would save $2.46 million in salary cap. That money saved could come in handy for signing another star defenseman (Alex Pietrangelo, anyone?).

If this trade happened and Nylander won a Hart Trophy like Hall did in New Jersey, Kyle Dubas would have to go into witness-protection, but I like living life on the edge.

Let’s make this happen!