Toronto Maple Leafs Hypothetical Trade Options With the Jets

Like the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Winnipeg Jets have one crazy offseason ahead of them. With question marks surrounding several of their top players’ future with the franchise, the Jets have to find the right team to initiate a blockbuster deal with, avoiding mistakes made in the past with a name like Patrick Laine.

For the Toronto Maple Leafs, they have their own questions to answer from the top to the bottom of the lineup. What do we do with 10 UFAs set to walk out the door?

How do they handle the upcoming contracts of Auston Matthews and William Nylander? Who’s playing in the net in 2024 and what do they do with Matt Murray? Does the team follow a tough, physical trend seen in the 2022-23 NHL Playoffs and upgrade their backend?

With new General Manager Brad Treliving at the helm, the Toronto Maple Leafs are sure in for one incredible offseason filled with change and could find themselves a partner in the madness with the Jets.

As for what they need, it’s hard not to immediately look at a forward group that couldn’t score more than two goals in a game in the team’s 2nd round playoff defeat to the Florida Panthers. Then again, it’s probably better not to read too much into that (small sample size, recency bias, etc.).

Options from the Jets up front could be the easiest answer to the question, with names like Pierre-Luc Dubois, Mark Schiefele, and Blake Wheeler all being rumored to potentially be on the move.

When looking defensively, the Jets have an influx of potential helpful options for the Leafs, but at what cost? Going all the way to the top, Josh Morrissey notched 76 points this season, 2nd in all of hockey, signalling a trade for the stud D-Man might cost a pretty penny. Instead, the Leafs could opt to look into Neal Pionk or Dylan Demelo, with the team having a lack of depth on the right side of their backend.

It’s time to do something Leaf fans love more than anything, hypothetical trades. Here are 3 trades that could benefit both the Leafs and the Jets, involving players rumored to be moving on or in a position where the team might be forced to move them despite the caliber of talent they hold.

The 1st trade I think could realistically happen, the 2nd trade is unlikely to happen but solves a major problem for the Leafs and the 3rd is bonkers for both teams, so let’s have some fun!

Option 2: Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Pierre-Luc Dubois

Winnipeg Jets acquire: Nick Robertson, Timothy Liljegren, 2023 1st Round Pick (BOS), 2024 3rd Round Pick (NYI)

Just going to be honest here, this trade scares me but it makes a ton of sense, and here’s why. Pierre-Luc Dubois is currently 24 years old and an incredible player, but a player who is set to be on his 3rd team in his 8th NHL season.

It’s no secret that Dubois wants out of Winnipeg, and the Toronto Maple Leafs could use another 60-point center, so why not explore it?

In this trade, hypothetically the Toronto Maple Leafs can do a sign-and-trade with the Jets, getting Dubois at under $9 million AAV. Dubois would fill a massive void for a team that’s desperately tried to find help for its core four forwards, providing size and scoring down the middle of the ice, allowing Tavares to transition to the wing as he continues to age into his late 30s.

I acknowledge there are way more questions than answers with a player who constantly flip-flops on what franchise he wants to play for, but if Dubois would entertain putting on the Blue and White, it makes all the sense in the world. Besides, he was born a Montreal Canadiens fan, so what better way to acknowledge your favorite childhood team than playing for their most heated rival?

Walking out the door would be Toronto Maple Leafs prospects Nick Robertson and Timothy Liljegren,.Adding to that, the Maple Leafs would throw in this year’s 28th overall pick acquired in the Rasmus Sandin trade, and a future 3rd-round selection acquired in the Pierre Engvall deal.

As to why the Jets might want to explore this deal? The team is in a no-win situation with Dubois as he’s made his intentions clear he wants to move on, and adding players who are young with potential along with draft picks is never a bad thing. Following other massive trades involving core pieces, the Jets could transition towards building a younger program in Winnipeg and this move would be a nice start to that.

Option 3: Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Kyle Connor, Adam Lowry, Cole Perfetti, 2023 1st and 3rd, 2024 4th and 5th

Winnipeg Jets acquire: Mitch Marner

I told you the third trade was going to be totally bonkers, right? In this scenario, the Toronto Maple Leafs say goodbye to one of the NHL’s best players, Mitch Marner, opting for more assets while also still leaving the deal with a star player, the 26-year-old Kyle Connor who’s on a solid contract.

At $7.12 million AVV for the next three seasons, the 80-point man can be viewed as having one of the best-valued contracts in hockey, something the Toronto Maple Leafs desperately need.

Along with Connor would come two other names, the first being Adam Lowry, who would be a nice piece for the Toronto Maple Leafs on their 3rd line, playing down the middle of the ice and adding depth to a team that’s set to lose a lot of it’s bottom six to free agency.

The 21-year-old Cole Perfetti would also be coming to Toronto, showing promise this past season for the Jets with 30 points in 50 games before suffering an upper-body injury.

The Leafs would also add multiple selections in this year’s NHL draft along with next year, something they sorely lack, having just three selections on June 28th due to several trades throughout the last few years. If nothing else, the draft picks could be used to add players to their roster, with the team currently having 10 UFAs unsigned from the 2022-23 season.

Unfortunately, with every good return comes a hefty price, and in this scenario, that price is a 26-year-old 99-point player in Mitch Marner. As for why this trade makes sense for Toronto, the only answer would be that the team is ready to move off its core four, and the most attractive piece is their second-best player who hasn’t performed to that level when the post-season comes around.

Now, I do want to make it clear, I’m not in the “trade Mitch Marner” business. But, if a tough move has to be made, you’d rather trade him than the team’s franchise player in Auston Matthews, assuming it comes down to one or the other.

The Jets walk away with one of the premier players in the NHL, while the Maple Leafs opt for a different approach to the makeup of their roster.