Just over a week ago, the Toronto Maple Leafs held a press conference at which General Manager Brad Treliving, President of Hockey Operations Brendan Shanahan, and CEO of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), Keith Pelley addressed the media following another disapointing playoff performance.
At the press conference, Shanahan said that they will look at everything this summer and consider any changes that will make the Toronto Maple Leafs a better team.
Fans are calling for chances to the Core Four after once again disapointing in the playoffs. And even though they were all going through various injuries (or in Tavares case, deployed in an extreme defensive way) the collected fanbase and media is choosing to completely ignore any contributing factors.
The consensus is: change is needed.
Who Should the Toronto Maple Leafs Move?
It's hard to think of the Toronto Maple Leafs not having one of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner or John Tavares by the start of next season.
Auston Matthews and William Nylander signed extensions that will kick in on July 1st and they both have full no-move clause (NMC). On top of that Auston Matthews is arguably a top three player in the league, when he is healthy and William Nylander has been the Maple Leafs best playoff performer in the last many years.
Safe to say both will be around next season.
John Tavares is the captain of the team and is in the back nine of his career at 33 years old. He continues to get slower every year but is still amongst the best 2nd line centres in the league.
Tavares also has a full NMC and has started a family in the city he grew up in. Hard to see the team trading him or him waiving his NMC, even if Treliving found a deal.
Which leaves us with Mitch Marner. Marner has been on pace for 100 points in each of the last four seasons and provided elite defense while doing so.
Trading him is almost certainly a bad idea, but at the very least, it's worth exploring.