Could the Maple Leafs please Auston Matthews by trading down to No. 3?

Could the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks swap first-round picks?

The Sheet with Jeff Marek: David Pagnotta and Jeff Marek, discussing the Toronto Maple Leafs and their first overall pick. Could they trade down, to say, the Vancouver Canucks at No. 3? What do they sell to Auston Matthews to get him to want to stay?

Marek: “The Maple Leafs. You know, you can sell wins. You can sell hope. Right now, you’re selling hope for this team. And I really do wonder, like, if Vancouver comes to them with a package for the first overall pick? They want the guy from the West.

Maybe the Maple Leafs are looking at Caleb Malhotra. Can drop down to third. Could still get him. Premium position, center ice man, not a winger.

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But then I flip back to what you’re talking about, and that is, there is, you know, the greater, the greater good of the company, which isn’t just always a hockey decision, it’s also a marketing decision. And right now, the good news story is Gavin McKenna and the first overall pick.

But if it makes more sense to pick up assets and trade down and pick up a Caleb Malhotra at number three and flip with Vancouver, who makes that decision?”

Pagnotta: “And how does that decision then affect the captain’s perception of their next, at least the next two years? There are a lot of factors that are going to come into play here. A lot more balls are going to drop to this whole overall equation.

You know, presumably, you’re going to see the first overall pick join their NHL club. There’s the sell factor there from the marketability of it. There’s the sell factor to your captain, that this is probably who you play with.

The draft will affect how they approach any trades that they make. Free agency. All of that. It’s all roses, right now, that have covered up the manure that was put on it. It looks good.”

Marek: “It is in all.”

Pagnotta: “But does it smell good, yet? I don’t know. And, everything tied to Auston Matthews, and I know there’s reports out there, I think, I think some of the reporting has been a little misconstrued by the, by the public. I think the perception of the reporting has been kind of twisted a little bit publicly.

I can tell you with all certainty that you know, Auston wants to win in Toronto. Wants to be here, but if this team isn’t primed and positioned, just like Edmonton, if they’re not primed and positioned to do that now, why are we wasting everybody’s time?

If by July 15, they have McKenna. They’ve rejigged the blue line; they’re more mobile. They’ve found a legitimate 3C. The fourth line’s been fixed. They understand where their goaltending is. They feel they can be a team that can compete in the playoffs in the Atlantic. Then everything is fine with Auston. But if none of those boxes get checked beyond the first overall pick, then that’s a different discussion.”