The Captain
The only player from the Core Four that should be traded is captain John Tavares and the problem is, he is likely not willing to be moved as he has a full No Movement Clause.
If in some miraculous way Tavares does waive his NMC, there isn’t a team in the NHL that would want to take on Tavares’s $11 Million.
GM Kyle Dubas landed Tavares as the prize free agent in the summer of 2018 and the Toronto native even took a hometown discount to come to his childhood team.
Reports surfaced that Tavares turned down a deal from the San Jose Sharks that would have paid him $12.5 Million per season on the same seven-year deal.
Through five seasons, he has averaged just over 35-goals per 82-game seasons, which includes recording 47 goals in his first year of his deal and he has been just under a point per game throughout his tenure.
Statistically speaking, Tavares has put up great numbers, but it is obvious now that his foot speed has drastically seen a drop off from what was already the weakest part of the game.
While he did record four goals in the playoff, he scored in just two of 11 playoff games.
This upcoming season, while the contract carries a huge cap hit, it does not become a problem until the 2024-25 season and for just one year. With both Nylander and Matthews new contracts (if signed) not taking place until the final year of Tavares’ contract .
Nobody is Moving
There is not a trade that you make where you move any of Marner, Matthews or Nylander that you win and at minimum you go watch them become better players somewhere else and at worst you watch them lift multiple Stanley Cups.
At the same time there is not a team that takes on the Tavares contract, so your best strategy going forward is that you stick with the same four players and think of it as the Big Three and in that one season in 2024-25 you do what you can to get through the year.