Toronto Maple Leafs Fantasy World: Connor McDavid Heads Home

A Toronto Maple Leafs dream is currently playing out in Arizona right now, as Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid are skating together.

Remember the 2015 NHL Draft Lottery when the Toronto Maple Leafs narrowly missed out on winning the Connor McDavid sweepstakes? Well, that may become a reality one day.

Obviously I’m over-speculating everything right now, but can you imagine a world where Matthews and McDavid played together? Oh wait, that actually happened with the World Cup of Hockey and it was glorious.

Although the idea of Team North America was dumb and didn’t make a ton of sense, it brought together a few of the best young hockey players in the world and showcased what McDavid and Matthews can do together, or “McMatthews”, as I like to call them.

Screw the McDouble and Chicken McNuggets, I’ll take an order of “McMatthews” please! Dumb joke, moving on…

As a typical Toronto Maple Leafs fan, I’m never satisfied. A team that is filled with superstars such as Matthews, John Tavares, William Nylander and Mitch Marner is never enough. I would trade all three of the other studs away, just to see a McDavid-Matthews combination.

So, could this actually happen one day?

Matthews and McDavid Practice Together

McDavid will unfortunately be missing the playoffs in Edmonton every season until 2026, so the team wouldn’t be able to sign him until then. Even at that timeframe, Matthews will already have been a Free Agent, so it’s quite possible that he could be in a different uniform by then.

However, if everything went according to plan, the team could re-sign Matthews, then let John Tavares and Mitch Marner walk during the summer of 2025-26, thus having money to sign McDavid as he enters Free Agency at the beginning of the 2026-27 season. Free Agent speculation from one year away is tough to talk about, let alone six years from now, so how about we talk about a few trades that could make this is a reality.

Hypothetical Trade #1:

• Toronto Maple Leafs trade: Mitch Marner, Nick Robertson, Rasmus Sandin and three first-round picks
• Edmonton Oilers trade: Connor McDavid

Hmmm, this is interesting. The money lines up nicely and the Oilers are getting a crazy good package. Edmonton receives a top-20 player in the NHL that can help them right away, two high-end prospects and three first round picks. Dubas, call the Oilers right now!

Hypothetical Trade #2:

• Toronto Maple Leafs trade: Morgan Rielly, William Nylander, Nick Robertson, Rasmus Sandin and two first-round picks.
• Edmonton Oilers trade: Connor McDavid

If Wayne Gretzky can get traded, so can McDavid. The Toronto Maple Leafs would be giving up the kitchen-sink to get McDavid and this trade would help the Oilers so much. They need defense and depth scoring and it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve traded away an MVP (*cough, cough, Taylor Hall*).

Conclusions

I must have had too much to drink because obviously these trades would never happen, but man are they ever fun to talk about. I feel like the Edmonton Oilers would never trade McDavid, even if it meant Matthews was coming their way, but a man can dream.

However, if this somehow becomes a reality down the road, I’m copyrighting the term “McMatthews” and plan on making McMillions on royalties.