The NHL saw a blockbuster deal go down on Friday which landed Vladimir Tarasenko on the New York Rangers. The move helps set the table on understanding what the San Jose Sharks will want in return for Timo Meier in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The price of Tarasenko was just what the Toronto Maple Leafs wanted to see.
In order to pry Tarasenko (and defenseman Niko Mikkola) from the St. Louis Blues, the Rangers needed to send off forward Sammy Blais, defenseman prospect Hunter Skinner, a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
Tarasenko ending up in Broadway was reportedly due to the asking price being too high for Meier, which makes sense, because Tarasenko isn’t as good.
The Potential Price the Toronto Maple Leafs Could Pay
Meier’s 30 goals and 21 assists have come over 53 games. He is also set to become a restricted free agent at season’s end and not just be a rental.
He’s an elite player at the peak of his powers.
For Meier, the Sharks GM, Mike Grier, is going to be asking for a ton. He will for sure want a better prospect than Skinner, a 2019 fourth-round draft pick who isn’t a lock to play in the NHL.
This is going to be Matthew Knies, the most valuable of the organization’s prospects.
The Leafs best asset is going to be hard to hold onto if they want to get back an elite player.
Grier is also likely hoping for a B level prospect. There are a number of players who may fit that mold. Fraser Minten and Ty Voit would absolutely be on the Sharks Radar.
Drafted 38th-overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, Minten has been having an excellent season. The assistant captain of the Kamloops Blazers in the WHL has been better than a point per game. In 39 contests, the 18-year-old center has recorded 46 points on 24 goals and 22 assists. Minten’s career trajectory is looking very good and Grier surely wants that future to be based in San Jose.
Voit is a year older than Minten. He plays for the Sarnia Sting in the OHL. Voit has been unstoppable this season. He’s notched 15 goals and 58 assists, giving him 73 points in 48 games.
That’s good enough to make him the league’s fourth leading scorer and the top assist producer.
With Knies and then either Minten or Voit on the table, the easiest part of negotiations will be the Sharks taking a Maple Leafs first-round draft pick. Both general managers would go into discussions knowing that this would always be in play. The conversation would likely circle around whether Toronto gives up their 2023 or 2024 pick. An additional third-rounder may also need to get thrown in to help sweeten the pot. The Toronto Maple Leafs happen to have two of them in the 2023 draft.
With a prospect and picks established, the only thing left is for San Jose to recoup an established NHL player. In order to fit Meier’s $6 million cap hit under into the Leafs available space, they’ll need to move money out. Depending on what the Leafs choose to do with their LTIR space, it is likely that they look to ship out Alex Kerfoot’s $3.5 million AAV.
With Kerfoot’s ticket and him being an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, he’s not very attractive for Grier, but he can be flipped to a third team without trouble.
The Sharks are under no urgency to move Meier by the deadline. However, if they do, it’s now clear what the Leafs must be prepared to give up in order to bring him to Toronto.