Toronto Maple Leafs: Potential Trades for Marner or Nylander

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)

William Nylander registered 40 goals and 47 assists for 87 points in 82 games last season.

At 27 years-old, he is in his prime and has the potential to be a 100-point player. If the Toronto Maple Leafs decides to trade Nylander, they’ll try to add a player with similar stats but maybe a different playing style. Here are some potential trades the Maple Leafs could make for Nylander.
(Stats from hockey-reference.com)

Toronto Maple Leafs Trade William Nylander to Philadelphia Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers are going through a bit of a fire sale right now. Could Toronto capitalize on that? They are a team that Treliving should definitely be calling.

To Philadelphia: William Nylander
To Toronto: Travis Konecny, 2024 Conditional 2nd round pick. The pick becomes a 1st round selection if Nylander re-signs with the Flyers.

The Flyers own two picks in the 2024 first round and potentially own two picks in the second round as well. Toronto has no second-round picks until the 2026 NHL draft, so recouping one would be helpful. If Nylander re-signs and Toronto gets a first-round pick, they’d have two selections in the 2024 first round unless they trade one of them.

Travis Konecny registered 31 goals and 30 assists for 61 points in 60 games last season. Over a full 82 games his numbers are very similar to Nylander’s. Konecny has two years left on his contract for $5.5 million a season.

That gives Toronto a small cap savings of $1.4 million. Probably not enough to trade a superstar for a much worse player.

Toronto Maple Leafs Trade William Nylander to Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes are a team in win-now mode like Toronto. A chance to add the offense of Nylander to their lineup could allow Toronto GM Brad Treliving to add a promising young star to Toronto’s top six to shake things up a bit and a top four defenseman to replace UFA Justin Holl.

To Carolina: William Nylander
To Toronto: Seth Jarvis, Brett Pesce

Seth Jarvis was selected by the Hurricanes in the first round of the 2020 NHL draft with the 13th overall pick.

He has one year left on his entry-level contract (ELC) with a $894,167 cap hit. Jarvis will be a restricted free agent (RFA) after next season. He registered 14 goals and 25 assists for 39 points in 82 games. Jarvis has played well in the playoffs for Carolina the past two seasons, with eight goals and ten assists for 18 points in 29 playoff games.

Brett Pesce is a 28-year-old right-shooting defenseman with size (6’3, 206 Lbs.) He registered five goals and 25 assists for 30 points in 82 games last season. Pesce has one year left on his contract with a $4.025 million cap hit.