The Missing Piece For the Toronto Maple Leafs Just Became Available for Trade
By James Tanner
The Toronto Maple Leafs need to make acquiring Patrik Laine their biggest priority.
The missing piece to the Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup aspirations is now available after completing his recovery and announcing his intention to return to the NHL.
Laine has a huge contract, so the Leafs will need 50% of it to be retained, but if they can pull it off, this will give them the NHL's best roster.
And there is no reason for them not to do this. If there was ever a pro sports team with more pressure to win now than the 2024-25 Toronto Maple Leafs, I don't know of them.
The Missing Piece For the Toronto Maple Leafs Just Became Available
So with the pressure on, the Leafs should take the easy layup. Patrick Laine has 70 goal talent. He has franchise player ability. Clearly it's hard to be a professional athlete and he's got his problems, but we all have problems. If he is healthy and ready to resume his career, he is just 26 years old and writing him off is ridiculous.
Patrick Laine returning to the NHL and scoring 50 goals is the easiest and most obvious thing to ever predict. He is an awesome player. He has one of the best shots and releases in the NHL. Adding him would give the Leafs the best roster in hockey.
The Blue Jackets are going nowhere and will obviously want to trade Laine.
The Leafs need to add another star to replace Bertuzzi. They could easily fit him in under the cap if Kampf, Jarnrkok, Timmins and Reaves went back the other way.
Those aren't assets, those are favors. The Leafs would also have to pay a first rounder and a couple top prospects.
Lets say a 2028 un-protected first round pick, Bobby McMann and Fraser Minten for Laine and 50% of Laine's contract retained.
If they need more, give them more. Short of giving up on Easton Cowan nothing should be off the table.
$4.35 is a bargain for a player of Laine's stature, and the Leafs would be making a low-risk massive-reward move that could easily put them over the top.
The Leafs would get Laine for 2 playoff seasons and honestly, this is a no-brainer.
The Leafs are all in with an ancient blue-line and Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner just about to enter their primes. Adding another superstar about to enter his own prime is easily the best thing they could do.
Sure, ideally you'd rather add an elite defenseman or centre, but elite is elite. Laine, Matthews, Nylander, Tavares gives the Leafs four players who have scored 40 goals in a season before.
Matthews/Domi, Marner/Laine, Tavares/Nylander with Cowan, Robertson and Knies is just pure insanity. The Leafs have long been haunted by their inability to score beyond their core-four.
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This fixes the problem like nothing else could. Laine's availability is a gift the Toronto Maple Leafs simply must capitalize on.