The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to have an interesting summer no matter what. Mitch Marner and John Tavares could be gone, opening up a whole lot of cap space that would be burning a hole in the team's pocket. And after another disappointing playoff exit, several transactions might be needed to rejuvenate this team and breathe new life.
In the past, other players like Marner and Tavares had the option to leave and took it, or were traded away for some short-term thinking and now the Maple Leafs desperately wish they could hit an undo button.
Just thinking about some of the players that could be in this Leafs lineup gets you dreaming.
Nazem Kadri
Nazem Kadri was traded after consecutively being suspended for poor decisions in the playoffs, namely against the Boston Bruins. Then-general manager Kyle Dubas thought he was finally getting that mobile top-four defenseman in Tyson Barrie in the deal along with third-line center Alex Kerfoot, but what happened was Kadri went on to win the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche, and Barrie did nothing but end up as a passenger on the blue line and Kerfoot was just fine.
Now, Kadri is leading an almost-playoff team in scoring over with the Calgary Flames, even after he hit free agency. But if the Maple Leafs could do it all over again, Kadri would solve a whole lot of problems that this team had in the most recent playoffs.
Imagine instead of Max Domi flailing around and, other than popping in for a couple of key scoring opportunities, being a negative impact player on the ice, Kadri was the third-line center on the 2024-25 Maple Leafs. Dollars might not have necessarily worked, but that's not the point. Kadri would provide some real, true depth scoring and the absence of that has been one of the primary reasons Toronto finds itself knocked out of the playoffs earlier than anyone wants.
Mason Marchment
Mason Marchment is just one of those players who slipped through Toronto's fingers. He played an entire four games in the Blue and White before being swapped in a one-for-one deal with the Florida Panthers for Denis Malgin of all players.
Honestly, that might be Hall-for-Larsson bad.
Marchment has gone on be a late-bloomer and be one of the most impactful middle-six wingers that were plucked from free agency for less than a million dollars. In total, Marchment has played 302 NHL games, scoring 76 goals and 189 points. Not mind-boggling numbers but has turned into a true contributor for some of the best teams in the NHL.
And now with the Dallas Stars after cashing in during free agency, he has just put up back-to-back 22-goal seasons while not even averaging 16 minutes a night, and being good defensively. Oh yeah, and if you don't remember, he is 6-foot-5.
Rasmus Sandin
Still to this day, the trade of Rasmus Sandin to the Washington Capitals causes some Maple Leafs fans' blood to boil. Sandin was sent packing to the then-mediocre Capitals for a first-round pick that eventually turned into Easton Cowan. Of course, we'll have to see how that entire trade pans out but Sandin is someone the Leafs could desperately use right now.
Especially considering Craig Berube's and Brad Treliving's desire to have a blue line constructed with more stable defenders than puckmovers, Sandin would be able to actually be one of the best transition defensemen this team has seen since Morgan Rielly went bonkers under Sheldon Keefe that one single year.
While in Washington, Sandin has developed into a stable, top-four defenseman who can carry the puck up the ice with ease and make his forwards' job super easy. He's not the best defender, but put him next to Chris Tanev or Brandon Carlo, and then suddenly that's a balanced pair that could play 25 minutes a night, and no one has to be concerned one bit.
The Maple Leafs sure did trade away a lot of players that could be useful right now.