5 Great Options for One Big Summer Trade for the Toronto Maple Leafs
By James Tanner
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.