No. 4: Jonathan Huberdeau ($5.9M)
Speaking of left-wingers who would make the Toronto Maple Leafs much better, let’s take a look at Huberdeau, who’s on the last year of his $5.9M AAV contract.
Huberdeau’s contract has to be one of the best in hockey. He makes less than William Nylander, yet just scored 30 goals and 115 points, and was a Hart Trophy candidate. For the past four years, he’s been well over a point-per-game player and is one of the best set-up men in the NHL.
Imagine a first-line of Mitch Marner, Jonathan Hubedeau and Auston Matthews?
Would Matthews score 70 goals, maybe 80 goals next season? With two of the best passers and visionaries in the league, Matthews would somehow find even more scoring chances than before and be even more unstoppable than he was this year.
After trading Tkachuk for Huberdeau, you’d assume they’d want to try to re-sign him, but at the same time, it wouldn’t be shocking if they try to flip him for another big-haul.
If Huberdeau doesn’t want to stay in Calgary (which he probably won’t because nobody seems to want to) then the Leafs should do whatever it takes to acquire him.