The Toronto Maple Leafs will have a decision to make on the future Mitch Marner as he’s a pending UFA.
The website PuckPedia‘s PuckGM tool lets users create their own trades. One user proposed a deal that would see the Maple Leafs dealing Marner to the Nashville Predators.
Maple Leafs acquire:
- Filip Forsberg
- Ryan O’Reilly ($1.5 million retained)
Predators acquire:
- Mitch Marner
- Nick Robertson
- William Villeneuve
- 2025 second-round pick (Florida’s)
The Colorado Avalanche just dealt Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes given he was a pending UFA and they were unsure they’d be able to re-sign him. Toronto would do the same with Marner here and get two assets in a blockbuster.
Forsberg is in the third year of his eight-year $68 million deal and could be Toronto’s second-line center, or play the wing on the top line. Forsberg has skated in 48 games recording 18 goals and 31 assists for 49 points.
O’Reilly, meanwhile, could be Toronto’s third-line center and would return to the Maple Leafs. He’s in the second year of his four-year $18 million deal with the Predators. O’Reilly has skated in 45 games recording 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points.
In return, the Maple Leafs would deal a second-round pick but the big part of the trade is Marner. The superstar forward is in the final year of his six-year $65.41 million deal. Nashville would have cap room to re-sign Marner and help bolster the roster. He’s skated in 50 games recording 15 goals and 53 assists for 68 points.
Toronto would also deal Robertson who’s a third-line NHL forward but is in the final year of his deal. Villeneuve, meanwhile, is a 22-year-old defenseman who was drafted in 2020 in the fourth round and is playing in the AHL.
Insider: Marner Wants to Re-Sign With Maple Leafs
Marner is in the final year of his deal and his future with the team is uncertain.
Marner will be in line for a massive contract in free agency, but TSN NHL insider Darren Dreger said the star forward wants to remain in Toronto.
“I think that Toronto very much wants to sign Marner and by all indications he wants to stay and be a life-long Toronto Maple Leaf,” Dreger said on TSN’s First Up on January 27. “It’s just the business side is what complicates it most but I can assure you one thing, if Mitch Marner decided today being Monday that he wanted to schedule a meeting with Brad Treliving and get the ball rolling, they’d get the ball rolling immediately to sign him.”
With Marner wanting to re-sign in Toronto, Dreger doubts the Maple Leafs would look to trade the pending UFA as Colorado did with Rantanen.
Toronto Getting Star Player Back Soon
The Maple Leafs will soon get John Tavares back in the lineup soon.
The former captain has been dealing with an injury he sustained in practice on January 15. But, according to coach Craig Berube, Tavares will return to practice later this week.
“I think later in the week, he could be on the ice with us, but maybe that’s guessing a little bit,” Berube said. “We’ve got to see how he’s progressing here, but he’s in a good spot. I think we’re going to see him with us in practice pretty soon.”
Tavares has skated in 44 games recording 20 goals and 22 assists for 42 points.
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