Mikael Granlund, San Jose Sharks
Currently the leading scorer of the San Jose Sharks, Mikael Granlund had been the star of the team ever since joining the club via the Erik Karlsson three-team trade during the 2023 offseason.
As a proven consistent 40+ point-getter per season during his time with the Minnesota Wild and Nashville Predators, Granlund has certainly stepped it up with the lowly Sharks team during the last couple of seasons.
With stars Tomas Hertl and Logan Couture out with long-term injuries, Granlund carried the team during the 2023-24 season by registering 12 goals and 48 assists for 60 points in 69 games played.
This season, he has even turned it up a notch by averaging greater than a point per game for the first time ever in his career. As a result, with 10 goals and 18 assists in 25 games to date, Granlund is on pace to shatter his personal bests in goals, assists and points by the end of the season.
With also eight power play points and one shorthanded goal on the year, Granlund can also be a potential huge difference maker in the special teams department. If the Leafs somehow manage to add the 13-year NHL veteran, it would give him the opportunity to play for a contender once again.
That instant boost in excitement should give him the motivation to play perhaps even better down the stretch. With the Sharks struggling once again this season and Granlund becoming an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, he should be a hot commodity by the trade deadline. However, with Granlund’s affordable $5 million AAV being the lowest amount among the three on this list, the Leafs can act now to beat everyone to his services.