With one single trade, the Toronto Maple Leafs could have changed the entire landscape of the NHL. If only the deal that was being discussed and was being finalized at the trade deadline, actually went through.
Before the 2025 trade deadline, the Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, and Carolina Hurricanes explored a potential three-way trade that would have sent Mitch Marner to Vegas and Mikko Rantanen to Toronto, according to The Athletic's James Mirtle.
However, Vegas and Carolina reportedly couldn't finalize the necessary assets to complete the deal. It's uncertain whether Marner was asked to waive his no-movement clause, though later reports indicated he declined to do so for a separate proposed trade that would have sent him to Carolina in exchange for Rantanen.
Ultimately, the Hurricanes traded Rantanen to the Dallas Stars in a package deal that included Logan Stankoven and two first-round picks. Rantanen then secured his future in Dallas with an eight-year, $96-million contract extension.
The Leafs had previously discussed a Marner trade with the Golden Knights last offseason, per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. Toronto's request for defenseman Shea Theodore in return was apparently denied, with Theodore instead signing a seven-year, $52-million extension with Vegas in October 2024. It remains unclear whether Marner would have waived his no-movement clause at that time.
No one knows that if this deal went through, Mikko Rantanen would have signed the same exact contract extension in Toronto, but that would have made the future outlook of this team so much more palatable and they most likely could have overcome the Florida Panthers in the second round just last month.
But now, Marner is going to be walking away from the Maple Leafs as an unrestricted free agent this summer and both teams that were involved in this blockbuster, the Hurricanes and Golden Knights, are most likely going to take several swings at signing the 28-year-old winger. All they had to do was wait and see Toronto suffer another heartbreaking postseason disappointment and Marner set his sights on leaving his hometown team because of it.
It is safe to say that both the Hurricanes and Golden Knights are better off without having made this deal. Carolina got to have Logan Stankoven and a couple more first-round picks to get top-end talent, while also potentially signing Marner this summer with over $28 million in cap space. And Vegas can just go ahead and try their luck at signing Marner, without having to give up any assets except dollars and cap space.
That leaves the Leafs with one fewer star and most likely scrambling to try to fill the holes Marner will leave in his departure. It will be an eventful summer in Toronto.