If you're the Toronto Maple Leafs, would you trade Mitch Marner to the Carolina Hurricanes for Mikko Rantanen?
This trade will never happen because Brad Treliving wouldn't even trade a banana for a delicious Snack Pack, but this trade actually makes a ton of sense for both teams. The Leafs desperately need more scoring while the Hurricanes could use a playmaker, so this trade would fix both of those issues.
Sure, the Leafs already have Auston Matthews and William Nylander who are elite goal-scorers, with John Tavares right below, but Matthews is struggling right now, and looks injured. At this current moment, as great as he is, I can't trust that Matthews will be himself and will be able to take over a series.
As much as Marner is an elite player himself, do we really think that he's going to be the one to lead the Leafs in goals and score in the biggest moment? His biggest asset is passing the puck to Matthews, but if Matthews can't score, Marner isn't as as effective.
In 57 playoff games, Marner only has 11 goals, so unless the playoffs magically switch to 3-on-3, I don't see a world where Marner is scoring a ton. I know you need your depth to show up and win you a few games in the playoffs, but Toronto's bottom-six is weak. As a result, by trading Marner, the team can add more scoring, while being able to add more depth at the Deadline, because they'd save money in acquiring Rantanen.
Rantanen for Marner Actually Makes a Ton of Sense
Rantanen is a playoff monster. He has 101 points in 81 career playoff games, including 34 goals. Even though Rantanen is more known for his goal-scoring, his playmaking actually rises in the playoffs, so if the Leafs acquired Rantanen, statically he would be a better playmaker and goal-scorer than Marner.
I can understand the argument that trading Marner is crazy because he's still one of the best 20 forwards in hockey, but this is the one trade that makes sense. The Leafs have gone way too many years with the same core and something needs to change.
Imagine how much of a fire it would light in the Leafs dressing room if one of their favourite teammates got traded at the NHL Trade Deadline? When you're in a big Game 7 again, wouldn't you rather look to your right and see Rantanen, who won a Stanley Cup just a few years ago, then Marner?
Rantanen is a five-time 30-goal scorer, including one season where he scored 55 goals, so he's an elite scorer.
The only reason that Rantanen probably doesn't get traded again is because the Hurricanes clearly love him and want to convince him to sign long-term.. However, if Rantanen comes out and says there's zero chance he's going to re-sign in Carolina before the NHL Trade Deadline, wouldn't you be happy to ship him out of town for a similar asset in Marner and try to lock him long-term, instead?
The more I think about this trade, the more I love it. Despite this team leading the Atlantic Division right now, I don't want to head into another playoff series with the same core. Let's try something different make an old-fashioned hockey trade that can truly benefit both sides.