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3 Hypothetical Trades Toronto Maple Leafs Should Make

By Stephen Nixon

TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 17: Jack Eichel #9 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on December 17, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Sabres 5-3.(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - DECEMBER 17: Jack Eichel #9 of the Buffalo Sabres skates against John Tavares #91 of the Toronto Maple Leafs during an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on December 17, 2019 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Sabres 5-3.(Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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Toronto Maple Leafs
TAMPA, FL – JANUARY 28: Auston Matthews #34 of the Toronto Maple Leafs . (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) /

No. 1: The Jack Eichel Trade

The Trade:

  • Toronto Maple Leafs acquire:
    • Jack Eichel
  • Buffalo Sabres acquire:
    • Mitch Marner
    • 2021 2nd Round Pick

If you thought being a Toronto Maple Leafs fan was hard, just pretend being a Buffalo Sabres fan for a second. The Sabres have continued to be an NHL Lottery team for the past decade and in Jack Eichel’s six seasons in Buffalo, he’s yet to make the playoffs.

Losing in the first round is tough, but continuing to miss the playoffs, draft some of the best prospects and still be irrelevant is way worse. It makes sense why Eichel’s name has been floating around trade rumors for a while.

With a $10M cap-hit, there are not a ton of teams that can take on that salary, or it may scare a few teams away. Despite his talent, that’s a huge salary to absorb when the cap is staying flat for the foreseeable future.

Toronto is one team that can take his salary and trade a significant piece in doing so. Marner is a world-class talent and will compete for the Art Ross trophy ever year, but he’s not a 6-foot-2, 215 pound centre, like Eichel.

If Buffalo doesn’t want to get pennies on the dollar in an Eichel trade, getting Marner in exchange could be a great fit.

As John Tavares ages, he could be better suited as a winger, which means he could play beside Auston Matthews or be on Eichel’s wing. A second-line of Tavares, Eichel and William Nylander would be incredibly deadly, while Matthews can carry the top-line.

Matthews is so talented that he doesn’t need a $10.9M winger beside him to help him score, but can instead generate more than enough offense by himself. By trading for Eichel, it would create much more depth and if the team really wanted, they could slide Tavares in as the third-line centre to create even much balance.

Regardless, the Leafs should seriously consider an Eichel for Marner trade to better this team.

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