5 Great Options for One Big Summer Trade for the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs aren't done
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a weird situation because while their summer has been extremely underwhelming, they are somehow still one of the top teams in the NHL entering the 2024-25 season.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to compete to win the Atlantic Division, President's Trophy and the Stanley Cup.
They should easily be one of the top ten teams, and have a very good shot at being a top five or even the top team.
This is because they have a well balanced blue-line withtwo star players and potentially one top ten defenseman (should the 34 year-old Chris Tanev live up to his billing and stay healthy).
This is also because with Knies, Robertson and McMann, the Leafs have three solid scorers to go along with their core-four + Domi.
Speaking of Domi, he scored at a Franchise Player Level when he was paired with Auston Matthews for approximately 200 minutes last year.
As for the goaltending, you don't know what you're going to get, but based on the team the Leafs can put in front of their goalies, and based on the fact that both Woll and Stolarz appear primed for a breakout, they should be fine.
Of course, there are no guarantees, and the core-four could continue to underwhelm in the playoffs, while Rielly and Tavares and Tanev decline, the rookies disappoint and the goalies let everyone down. But for all that to happen would be a little Mr Burns Softball Team, so I think the Leafs are going to be fine.
The best and worse case scenarios could be extreme, but the most likely situation is that they cruise to the playoffs as a top-ten team.
But, add in another star player (at any position) and the Leafs would be an awesome team. Looking at their current team, they could clearly use at least one major weapon to replace Tyler Bertuzzi without having to count on Easton Cowan being the rookie-of-the-year for that to happen. (all cap info from puckpedia.com).
Here's five options. Please keep in mind that all five of these trades assume the Leafs can get cap space by also shipping out David Kampf, Ryan Reaves, Calle Jarnkrok and Conor Timmins who combine to make about $7 million dollars.
Patrik Laine
Age: 26
Position: Winger - shoots right
Status: 2 Years Left on a contract with an $8.7 million cap-hit.
Why He'd Help: It's a buy-low opportunity on a player with Franchise Level Talent. The opportunity is here to get an elite scorer for pennies on the dollar.
Assuming 50% retention of the contract, the Leafs would be making a trade with the hope of hitting a grand-slam. Depending on the cost, the risk vs reward on a Patrik Laine trade has the potential to be extremely favorable.
Also he's 6'5, 215 LBS.
Why He Wouldn't: Hasn't played over 60 games in the last four seasons. You have to go back to 2017-18 to find a season where he was living up to his billing as a top-of-the-draft franchise player.
He also has a crazy high cap-hit for what he brings. Appears to be extremely injury prone. Biggest strength is his shot but he's coming off shoulder surgery, so will that affect it?
Recommended Trade: Fraser Minten (high floor, low ceiling) and an unprotected future first round pick.
Trevor Zegras
Age: 23
Position: Centre
Status: Somewhat disappointing. Zegras has played four years in the NHL and is yet to establish himself as a star player. He had two very strong seasons where he scored over 20 goals and over 60 points, but last year was an injury riddled disaster.
Why He'd Help: Zegras is a special player with insane talent. But it's not just trick shots, he's a great puck-retriever because he's fast and he works hard, and he will likely get better defensively as he gets older. He's a great playmaker, but also a great shooter. He could score 40 goals and be a high-end second-line centre or a B-level franchise centre.
If the Leafs don't think they can turn Marner into a centre, then Zegras is a very good option for playing behind Matthews for the next several years.
After a lost year he could be a solid buy-low candidate with great upside.
Why He Wouldn't: He's going to cost a lot to trade for. Despite being a buy-low candidate, he's not going to be as cheap as Laine. Zegras would cost a top prospect, but the ceiling of Zegras probably makes it worth at least considering.
Recommended Trade: Easton Cowan for Trevor Zegras. This would be the cost, but I'm not saying whether the Leafs should do it. They've have to compare Cowan's ability to help now on an ELC vs the chances Zegres reaches his celling. Also, is Cowan a late-blooming superstar picked low in the draft, or did he just have an awesome year he will never live up to?
It's hard for me to see around the hype, but the Leafs, who presumably have scouts who've seen hundreds of hours of Easton Cowan footage, would have to make the call here.
The answer's to these questions would determine if the Leafs should make this trade.
Adam Fantilli
Age: 19
Position: Centre
Status: 6'2 future franchise centre with Hall of Fame Potential. Coming off fairly successful rookie campaign on bad team.
Why He'd Help: He could centre the Toronto Maple Leafs second line, and he could do it for two more years at nearly the league minimum because he remains on an entry-level contract.
Having a superstar centre making peanuts for the next two years would allow the Leafs to add a second, or maybe even third extra star player and really go for the Stanley Cup like never before.
Why He Wouldn't: There is no guarantee that he is a star player and, most importantly, it would cost Mitch Marner. I'm just putting this out there because it's one of the few Marner trades the Leafs would actually win.
A lot of suggestions are downright dumb because a player like Clayton Keller is a massive downgrade from Marner but only saves you enough money to buy a B-level name-brand player who won't help that much. A Marner for Keller swap is a loser on every single level, no matter how you evaluate it.
However, if you could trade Marner's entire cap hit for a player on a rookie deal, you can actually go out and get another high-impact player.
Recommended Trade: Fantilli and Laine (50% retained) for Mitch Marner and the $7 million dead-weight the Leafs have on their roster.
Noah Dobson
Age: 24
Position: Defense
Status: Left shooting elite #1 defenseman with three straight 50 point (pace) seasons, coming off a 70 point breakout. Also provides excellent defense, and is 6'4.
Why He'd Help: The Leafs have never paired Auston Matthews with one of the NHL's best defenseman. The best they've done is Morgan Rielly and, assuming he doesn't decline too much, Chris Tanev.
Dobson would give the Leafs a franchise player on the back-end for the first time since Tomas Kaberle retired. He would give them a player who can win the Norris Trophy, and who would make their blue-line the best in hockey.
The Leafs have a very good blue-line, but all the teams who have a true number-one defenseman without any caveats, are all better.
Why He Wouldn't Help: Elite Status + Cheap Cap Hit = Enormous Acquisition Cost.
Recommended Trade: Matthews Knies + Fraser Minten + Ben Danford + 2 x first-round picks + whatever it costs to move the salary of Kampf et. al. to another team because the Islanders probably can't take them.
This might seem like a lot, but the Coyotes traded 2 x top prospects, including Connor Geekie who is better than anything the Leafs have to trade, and a 2nd for Mikhail Sergachev, who is older, has a more expensive contract with four years left on it, and is much, much worse than Dobson.
Would Dobson even be available? Would the Leafs even consider paying this high of a cost? Should they?
Here's the thing: These players are extremely rare. If you are on the verge of winning and could make your blue-line the best in the NHL, and you can find a team who would do it, trading a bunch of lottery tickets for a surething is probably the right move.
Adrian Kempe
Age: 27
Position: RW/LW
Status: Elite winger in his prime coming off a pretty big dip in production after he went from 41 goals to just 28 last year, though he did hit a career high in points. Makes $5.5 cap-hit for two more seasons.
Why He'd Help: Gives the Leafs a gritty, big, tough winger who can score and defend. He's like Nylander, if Nylander was mean and dirty.
The Leafs have had nothing but problems with their depth scoring. Kempe fixes that. He can play anywhere in the lineup, and could even centre a third line.
He also adds a power-forward*ish* dimension the team lost when Bertuzzi left. A Bertuzzi/Knies combo on the ice for half the game was something I was really looking forward to if Knies has his expected breakout season. Kempfe would be a good subsitite for the same thing, and even though he's not the pure-power forward that Bertuzzi is, he's a better overall player.
Why He Wouldn't: The only reason he wouldn't help is if LA refused to trade him. He's likely not available, and this is just a fantasy.
Recommended Trade: Easton Cowan for Adrian Kempe.
manual
You gotta give to get, and again, this trade depends on if the Leafs think Cowan is going to be a difference maker this season. If he isn't going to be, then trading him is the best move.