The Toronto Maple Leafs are both insanely popular and participants in an industry that's rumour mill is matched only by it's participants penchant for secrecy.
Not only that, but the Toronto Maple Leafs are more secretive than most, and they definitely the team in the NHL with the most coverage, and the most rumours about them.
So that makes it hard to separate what's true and what's not.
The NHL Entry Draft is today, and the rumours are more or less out of control. And yet, those rumours are being reported by people with very good reputations for figuring this stuff out.
With that in mind, I'm just going to assume the two main rumours are true, and advise that the Leafs step back from the brink of making two of the dumbest decisions they could possibly make.
Stepping Back From the Bring of Insanity: The Toronto Maple Leafs Need to Chill
First, let's talk about Mitch Marner.
The Leafs would be trading him at his lowest value, when everything being said about him publicly is negative and his positives (like being the best defensive player among the NHL's top scorers, his fours straight 100 point pace seasons, etc.).
The Leafs would be trading him at the very beginning of his prime, at the start of his age 27 season. The season in which players such as Auston Matthews, Nathan McKinnon and Connor McDavid all went totally insane.
The Leafs would be trading from a position of weakness: Marner has a NTC and can choose his own destination, and out of the teams he would choose, the Leafs would be further limited by the salary cap.
Even without all those problems, the fact is, NHL teams rarely win trades where they trade the best player.
Buffalo traded Jack Eichel and the team that acquired him won the Stanley Cup.
Calgary traded Matt Tkachuck to Florida.
Buffal traded Sam Reinhart to Florida.....do you see where this is going? They made the Finals back-to-back and won the Stanley Cup five days ago.
Not only should you never trade a future hall of famer under any circumstances, you definitely shouldn't do it when the circumstances are downright terrible. I still haven't heard a single person give a single coherent reason why the Leafs should trade him in the first place.
Which brings be to Chris Tanev.
In free-agency you almost always give out bad contracts. It can't be helped. But at least those contracts usually go to star players.
Chris Tanev is not a star player.
He is also 35.
You don't need to wait for hindsight to tell you these are bad ideas. The Toronto Maple Leafs desperately need someone to step in above Brad Treliving and get him to stand down.
Signing Chris Tanev is a ridiculous move that will have much worse contract consequences than any of the team's current players have caused. As for trading Marner, it's a mistake that will haunt this team for the rest of its existence and it would be nice if someone recognized this before the fact and not after.