A massive trade involving the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Vegas Golden Knights could be brewing. Insider Elliotte Friedman dropped a bombshell suggesting Vegas and Toronto are working on a sign-and-trade deal involving impending UFA Mitch Marner.
The chatter surrounding Marner is that he will depart the Maple Leafs. Furthermore, Marner is said to have the Vegas Golden Knights as a preferred destination.
However, the Golden Knights have salary cap constraints that would make signing Marner impossible without clearing cap space first.
Enter the possibility of a sign-and-trade.
In this scenario, the Toronto Maple Leafs would ink Marner to a new contract and then trade him to the Vegas Golden Knights.
According to Friedman, RFA Nicolas Hague would be part of the return for Marner.
I believe Nic Roy will be going to Toronto if this gets done https://t.co/lWRgGg60jn
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 28, 2025
Hague is a towering defenseman in need of a new contract. The 26-year-old, 6’6” blue liner is coming off a three-year deal carrying a $2.294 million cap hit. The Golden Knights are believed to be moving on from Hague as they cannot afford to keep him.
It remains unclear what a new contract for Hague would look like.
The deal, if completed, will likely have additional moving parts. The Leafs could be looking at a forward to replace Marner in their top six. Otherwise, a more affordable depth player could make sense for Toronto.
Why this deal makes sense for Toronto Maple Leafs
This trade makes sense for the Toronto Maple Leafs as it allows the club to recoup something instead of seeing Marner walk away for nothing.
In Hague, the Leafs get a prototypical Craig Berube blue liner. He could be the sort of player the Leafs had in mind when they signed Jani Hakanpaa last summer.
The Leafs have the cap space to re-sign Hague. The club has over $20 million left in cap space even after inking John Tavares to a four-year extension on Friday.
It’s worth pointing out that Friedman did not provide assurances the deal will get done. But Friedman’s as good as they get in this business. If he’s hearing rumblings that’s because there’s something to it.