Will the Toronto Maple Leafs trade one of their core four players?
That question gets asked every off-season due to the Toronto Maple Leafs lack of playoff success.
With Kyle Dubas gone and new general manager Brad Treliving taking over, a trade involving one of the core four is possible, although unlikely.
Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares has a no-movement clause, and Auston Matthews isn’t going anywhere.
So, this leaves William Nylander and Mitch Marner as possible trade bait.
Beginning on July 1st, Marner will have a no-movement clause, while Nylander only has a modified no-trade clause. Nylander is infinitely more likely to go than Marner.
There are few, if any , examples in NHL history of a player of Marner’s quality being traded with the team trading him getting back anything close to the level of quality they gave away.
New GM Brad Treliving has to make some tough choices and little time to make them. If he does trade Nylander or Marner, the trade will have lasting effects on him and the team. Not the easiest situation to come into as the new GM, but that could be why he was selected.
Nylander has one year left with a salary cap hit of $6.9 million.
Marner has two years left with a $10.9 million salary cap hit.
Keeping in mind that even though there is a near-zero percent chance Marner is actually traded, people are discussing it so it’s worth looking into. So, what should a trade for either of these two look like? Here are some examples. (Salary cap info from capfriendly.com)