Maple Leafs’ Possible Trade Replacements for Mitch Marner

In fact, a sign-and-trade between the Maple Leafs and the Golden Knights could be the best path forward for both parties. And Eichel would make an awful lot of sense as the trade piece going the other way.

From the Maple Leafs’ perspective, Marner’s departure would ultimately yield a 94-point player who, at 28 years of age, is just a few months older. And while it took Eichel some time to finally make his mark in the postseason, he has certainly done so with 43 points in 40 career games, including a second-place finish in Conn Smythe voting as part of Vegas’ 2023 Stanley Cup triumph.

The trickier question would be why the Golden Knights would want to part ways with their No. 1 centre. Losing Eichel would certainly hurt, but it could represent the most direct path to clearing the necessary cap space to sign Marner. It would also get ahead of the Massachusetts native’s pending free agency at the end of next season. Plus, the presence of Karlsson and Tomas Hertl affords Vegas the luxury of pre-existing centre depth to help offset the loss of Eichel.

Jason Robertson

The Dallas Stars are looking to shake things up beyond the firing of head coach Pete DeBoer, and that has made star winger Jason Robertson a surprise subject of trade speculation. The 25-year-old is in the final year of a contract that will pay him $7.75 million before entering restricted free agency next summer. Is there a scenario where he could join his younger brother Nicholas Robertson in Toronto?

The Maple Leafs have plenty of reason to be intrigued by such a scenario. While Robertson hasn’t duplicated his MVP-caliber form of 2022-23 (46 goals, 109 points and a fourth-place finish in the Hart Trophy voting), he has been a picture of health and consistency. He is coming off of two identical 80-point seasons and has played in all 82 games in each of his past three seasons. He plays the opposite side as Marner and doesn’t quite measure up from a production standpoint (few do), but getting younger while minimizing any loss of scoring represents a pretty soft landing in the event of losing Marner.

Robertson may not cost much in salary, but he’d likely cost a boatload in terms of trade assets. If GM Jim Nill and the Stars front office are seeking players ready to help them win now, perhaps Morgan Rielly could be a starting point for trade discussions. If they want future assets, it might mean parting ways with Easton Cowan. Either way, the Maple Leafs will almost certainly have to absorb a substantial blow to their current roster or future assets to make a Robertson deal work.

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Martin Necas

Martin Necas is no Marner. However, he isn’t a bad substitute, particularly as another skilled player who brings many of the same attributes. Like Marner, Necas is a high-energy, dynamic and creative forward who can be a key offensive driver in the top-six. One of the fastest players in the league, the 26-year-old Colorado Avalanche forward also possesses impressive size that the Maple Leafs’ pending free agent doesn’t.

Necas isn’t the type of player that you would typically see on the trade market, but he’s already seen a recent change of address as part of the (first) Mikko Rantanen trade. While Rantanen’s displeasure in Carolina prompted a secondary move to the Stars at the trade deadline, there has since been buzz that Necas wasn’t entirely thrilled to have gone the other way to Colorado. As with both Eichel and Robertson, Necas is entering the final year of his current contract, and the Avalanche may not be too keen on holding onto an unhappy player on an expiring deal.

Necas may prove to be slightly more affordable than Robertson, but is still unlikely to come cheap. Like Dallas, Colorado remains in win-now mode and will be looking for impact players to be returned in any trade. That could prove difficult for the Maple Leafs, although they would probably have the pieces to put together a suitable deal if they were to be sufficiently motivated.

Lower Caliber Star

This is probably the most likely scenario, and it is also the most open-ended one. There are, after all, only a handful of singular players who can duplicate the impact that Marner has had on the Maple Leafs and significantly fewer who would be available via trade. That’s why filling the vacant cap space created by not re-signing Marner with two or more less impactful players could be the way to go to maintain depth and stability, even while taking a step back in terms of star power.

Who those players could be is basically anyone’s guess, giving GM Brad Treliving and the front office the chance to get creative. One quick peek at The Hockey Writers’ Trade Bait List suggests that names like JJ Peterka, Marco Rossi, Jonathan Marchessault, Morgan Geekie and Mason Marchment could all be had for the right price. Who knows, maybe star prospect Easton Cowan could be an in-house solution to make up for some of the lost production. Regardless of who could come on board under this theoretical ‘lose one, add two’ scenario, there does seem to be an appetite in Leafs Nation for altering the long-held ‘Big Four’ roster structure, and this would go a long way toward that end goal.

At this point, all indications seem to be pointing towards a forthcoming split between Marner and the Maple Leafs as he gets set to explore free agency. And it’s hard to shake the feeling that, despite all of his talent, it might be the best path forward for all parties involved. But without another Marner poised to fall easily into the club’s lap, it will be up to Treliving to exhaust all possibilities in how to sustain the potency of Toronto’s attack in a post-Marner world. Good thing that the trade market seems to have a couple of viable, albeit tricky, options.