3 Hypothetical Trades the Toronto Maple Leafs Should Make

The Toronto Maple Leafs don’t need to make drastic changes but they definitely need to tweak the roster.

Although the Toronto Maple Leafs technically missed the playoffs this year, they are not a completely flawed team.

Any roster in the NHL would beg to have Auston Matthews, John Tavares, William Nylander and Mitch Marner on their team. However, enough is enough, right?

In order to balance out the roster and gain more defense, one of the big-four has to leave to clear space.

In a perfect world, you would want to keep all of those players and build around that core-four, but the salary cap is not going up. If the cap was rising, the contracts make more sense and the team would be able to build around them.

But the fact is, it’s not.

The salary cap is going to stay flat next year and depending on when fans are allowed back in the arena, it could stay that way for another two or three years.

If the cap is going to stay at $81.5 million for a while, half of your cap cannot go to four players unfortunately, so the team is going to have to make a few trades.

Let’s take a look at three hypothetical trades the Leafs need to make to become Stanley Cup contenders next season.

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!

Trade #3. Block-Buster Trade With San Jose Sharks

Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Brent Burns

San Jose Sharks acquire: William Nylander, Kasperi Kapanen, 2020 2nd Round Pick and 1st Round Pick (*Condition: If Toronto reaches Stanley Cup Finals*)

Salary Cap implications: Toronto saves $2.162 million

Burns is the type of player that would fit perfectly in Toronto and would instantly become a fan-favourite.

He does have a no-trade contract so the ability to move him from San Jose may be tough. However, he’s from Barrie, Ontario which is only an hour north of Toronto, so the thought of playing in front of his friends and family and competing for a Stanley Cup may be an exciting thought for Burns.

The Sharks have $26.5 million tied up in three defenseman, but still gave up the third most goals in the NHL. Not only did they give up a ton of goals but they barely scored, finishing 27th in the NHL in goals for.

After giving up so many goals, while not being able to score, it may be time to move on from one of the team’s best defenseman and find scoring help. Nylander and Kapanen combined for 44 goals this season so they would be great contributors beside Logan Couture and Evander Kane, while the Leafs would be getting that right-shot defenseman they desperately need.

Something crazy needs to happen in Leafs Land, and a trade like this would shake things up.