The Toronto Maple Leafs can now be considered legit Cup Contenders, and that means that trading Mitch Marner is no longer an option, if it ever was.
Not only does Marner have an iron-clad no-trade clause in his contract, but the Toronto Maple Leafs aren't about to punt the season just to avoid maybe losing him for nothing later one.
But shouldn't a professional team with almost 60 straight years of failure be open to anything, and shouldn't they be doing everything in their power to win a Stanley Cup? Letting Marner walk would be one of the biggest failures ever, even for a team known mostly for failure. So they should at the very last, be exploring all possibilities. You wouldn't be reading this website if you didn't want to hear about the craziest hypothetical Toronto Maple Leafs trades, so let me give that to you. Over the past 100 years, it's safe to say that Mitch Marner is a top-10 player in Leafs history.
Drafted No. 4 overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Marner has lived up to every expectation. As a local kid, the media has ripped him apart, yet he's delivered on a nightly basis. He hasn't quite been superman when the playoffs start, but we really can't put any blame on him, as to why the team falters in the playoffs.
The Toronto Maple Leafs won't trade Mitch Marner, but if they did....
If it wasn't for him, the team may not have even made the playoffs every year, so we need to appreciate him more than ever. With Auston Matthews out of the line-up, Marner has looked better than ever and has proven that he is a top commodity in the NHL.
So why in the world would the Leafs trade him? Well, they probably never would because that's crazy, but wouldn't you rather trade him at his peak and get the most value out of him, rather than let him walk for free?
Well, there is one trade out there that could help both parties, so let's get crazy.
Leafs Trade Marner to Pittsburgh
- Toronto Maple Leafs acquire: Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson (with salary retained), Michael Bunting and a first-round pick
- Pittsburgh Penguins acquire: Mitch Marner, Calle Jarnkrok
This trade would break the internet, but doesn't it make a lot of sense? Former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas is running the show in Pittsburgh, and nobody loves his play more than Dubas, so why wouldn't he want to trade for him?
The Penguins are in such a weird place right now. They should be starting a rebuild, but as long as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby are around, they're not going to start. So, as a result, maybe they can get a little younger but still stay competitive?
The Penguins are set to have $18M in cap-space in 2025-26 but that jumps to $41M in 2026-27. As such, the team should have more than enough space to sign Marner to a long-term contract and signing someone like Marner would really help if Malkin leaves and Crosby eventually retires, or they just build the team around Marner.
Malkin has spent his entire career in Pittsburgh, but still has a lot to offer at 38-years-old. At $6.1M for the next two years, Malkin would be a perfect fit as the 2C, 3C and nobody would have three better centre's than the Leafs.
This isn't going to happy, but man would it ever be fun.