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4 Potential Forwards Toronto Maple Leafs Could Trade For Next Week

By Stephen Nixon

UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - MARCH 04: Taylor Hall #4 of the Buffalo Sabres celebrates his goal at 3:08 of the second period against the New York Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum on March 04, 2021 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - MARCH 04: Taylor Hall #4 of the Buffalo Sabres celebrates his goal at 3:08 of the second period against the New York Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum on March 04, 2021 in Uniondale, New York. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – JANUARY 30: Mikael Granlund #64 of the Nashville Predators  (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

No. 1: Mikael Granlund

In what felt like a WWE Royal Rumble reveal, Elliotte Friedman announced that Granlund was the “mystery forward” that he thought the Leafs would be interested in trading for.

From there, every Leafs fan in the world now knows who Granlund is, because they probably didn’t know much about him before. After playing seven seasons in Minnesota, he’s spent the last three with the Nashvile Predators.

The Leafs would most likely need Nashville to retain some salary for this deal to work, but that’s easily doable. Although the Leafs typically like trading for players with term, Granlund is an Unrestricted Free Agent this summer.

Granlund fits a number of boxes that the Leafs are looking for. He can play centre or wing and has playoff experience with 49 career games. As a two-time 20 goal-scorer, he’d be able to slide in nicely alongside John Tavares and Mitch Marner.

The Leafs already have a lot of offense, but when it comes to a seven-game series with your season on the line, you can never have too much. Granlund’s hockey sense and passing ability may be his biggest asset, so he’d be a great resource at helping Nylander or Tavares score at a higher rate 5v5.

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