Now that Mitch Marner has been dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade, the Toronto Maple Leafs have no time to waste as they search for his replacement.
Replacing Marner will be no small feat, considering he scores at a 100-point pace every season, plays strong defense and contributes on every special teams unit. While the Leafs won't be able to find one player who does it all at the same level that Marner does, they have several options to explore as they look to offset at least part of their losses.
3 Mitch Marner replacements for Maple Leafs after star winger departs for Vegas
Matthew Knies
If the Maple Leafs decide to go the in-house route to replace the bulk of Marner's production, freshly-extended winger Matthew Knies would be an ideal candidate to take on a larger role within the top-six forward group.
At 22 years old, Knies broke out for 29 goals and 29 assists in 78 games last season. He appears to have the makings of a 40-goal scorer as he continues to develop and help the Leafs fill the Marner void. That's presumably what the Leafs are hoping for, anyway, considering the fact that they just signed him to a six-year contract worth $7.75 million per season.
Jason Robertson
Jason Robertson will be an interesting name to monitor this offseason, as the star winger could be on the move before the Dallas Stars need to sign him to a new deal next summer. Players of this caliber rarely become available in their prime, but salary cap constraints may end up forcing Dallas to make him available on the trade market. If they do, Brad Treliving should already be on the phone with Stars GM Jim Nill.
Robertson is a dynamic forward and a scoring machine. He has already scored 40 goals twice in his young NHL career, and he's only 25 years old. The Stars likely aren't in any rush to move him, but a strong enough trade package (one that has to include a high-end roster player) could be enough to persuade them.
Nikolaj Ehlers
Nikolaj Ehlers is one of the top free agent names remaining on the market, so he will be in high demand. Though he has been largely under-utilized by the Winnipeg Jets (due at least in part to injury concerns), he would be a strong option to replace Marner in the Maple Leafs' top six.
Despite being limited to less than 16 minutes of ice time per game, Ehlers managed to top 60 points in each of the last two seasons. That kind of skill would play awfully well alongside the likes of Auston Matthews, Knies and William Nylander, so the Leafs should definitely be kicking the tires on this one.