No. 2: Mikael Granlund ($3.75M)
Although he’s currently day-to-day with an injury, if the Toronto Maple Leafs wanted to acquire another skillful top-six forward, there’s arguably nobody better than Granlund right now.
John Tavares has been one of the most talked about players on Toronto this year because of his inefficiency to score 5v5. He’s still an incredibly valuable player to this roster, but if the Leafs wanted to give him a much better chance to score 5v5, Granlund is their guy.
With a high hockey intelligence, it’s Granlund’s playmaking ability that makes him so deadly. Typically averaging between 30-40 assists per season, he’s been more of the set-up man, than a scorer with Nashville.
Although he’s an assist man, he’s been able to score 20-plus goals in a season on two occasions in his career, so he does have some scoring threat.
Granlund’s production has dropped this season, but it shouldn’t be anything to be worried about. His team isn’t great and he’s been talked about in rumors all year, so that could be getting to his head.
With a fresh start and especially paired with two of Toronto’s core-four, he’d be able to get back to normal quickly.