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Over the next few weeks, there will be a great deal of speculation regarding the potential trade of winger Mitch Marner, since Toronto Maple Leafs Team President Brendan Shanahan and GM Brad Treliving indicated earlier this month that something has to change after another early exit. The change began with the dismissal of Sheldon Keefe and the hiring of Craig Berube, but many agree that for the Leafs to potentially improve, that a shakeup of the core group is a necessity.

While many teams might be interested in the 27-year-old All-Star, a nearly $11 million cap hit, a no-movement clause and one year remaining on Marner’s contract will be hurdles that Treliving will have to clear to make a trade beneficial to the Leafs. Assuming that he will waive his NMC, Marner’s camp will likely provide a list of teams that he would be open to going to and those clubs will undoubtedly want to get him signed to a lengthy extension if they are giving up significant assets for him.

We will take a look at teams that have either the cap space or assets to make a Marner deal and who the Leafs could expect to get in a potential trade:

Utah

The former Arizona Coyotes are going to be a much different story under new owner Ryan Smith than the club that routinely took on dead money LTIR contracts like Shea Weber, Pavel Datsyuk or Chris Pronger to get the salary cap floor. The Utah Utahs (or whatever you want to call them) have tons of draft picks, as well as some excellent young prospects, and $43 million in cap space. For those reasons, they would be a perfect trade partner for Toronto……if Marner wanted to sign there.

Possible Trade Targets:

Clayton Keller – The 25-year-old was selected seventh overall in 2016 and is good friends with Leafs center Auston Matthews. There was significant chatter before last season that Keller did not want to stay in Arizona with the constant upheaval within the organization. It is unknown whether that is still the case even though the franchise as moved to Salt Lake City, but he would be a more-than-adequate replacement for Marner to play on Matthews wing and he is under contract for another four years at a reasonable $7.15 million AAV.



Lawson Crouse - A big, bruising winger (6’4”, 220 lb.) who has scored over 20 goals the last three seasons and is signed through 2027 at $4.3 million per season. An absolute gem of a contract that it would be hard to imagine GM Bill Armstrong is anxious to move.

Draft picks – Like Chicago, Utah is loaded with draft picks (20 first, second, and third-round picks over the next three seasons over the next three seasons) and with Toronto’s desire for cap flexibility, a deal revolving around a package of draft picks could be possible.

Prospects – Josh Doan (whose father Shane is an advisor with the Leafs), Dylan Guenther, Maveric Lamoureux (6’7”, right up Treliving’s alley)



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