Mitch Marner
You know Mitch Marner loves Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton, and seems to hate the spotlight, so I doubt he'd mind spending his career in southern California.
Especially on an up-and-coming Might Ducks team.
I personally hate trading Mitch Marner, but this exercise is a lot more fun if I do. Plus, maybe I under-estimated how much everyone involved wants a change. When I got to the office, they told me I pretty much had to do this.
OK so fine then!
I don't like any of the Marner proposals that I have seen, and they don't like me.
But if the Leafs are going to give away a future hall of famer in his prime, the only thing that makes it worth their while would be to bring in a potential star player on an entry-level deal, giving the Leafs a major boost in the salary cap department while also potentially not botching the biggest trade in franchise history.
After I pull off this move, they will call me the Young Jeezy of the NHL, which is high praise, believe me.
I will send Mitch Marner and a case of insufferable bucket hats to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Leo Carlsson and Pavel Mintyukov.
Marner waives to go there, they take his full cap hit **they have $33 million in cap space** and the Toronto Maple Leafs get a guy potentially as good as Marner (eventually) but who can play the upcoming year on an entry-level deal and probably score close to a point per game.
Additionally, they get Mintyukov, who will be a cornerstone of this team for years.
All in all, each new player has two years left on their ELC giving the Leafs a wide-open window to finally win the Stanley Cup.
Next up, we're getting controversial.