General manager Brad Treliving has some time to make a swap, or two, to improve the Maple Leafs.
Some 5 1/2 weeks remain until the National Hockey League trade deadline hits on March 7. A centre and a defenceman are on Treliving’s wish list, in that order.
As for a blockbuster similar to what we saw on Friday night — a three-team deal involving the Colorado Avalanche, Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks that saw star winger Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall land in Carolina and Martin Necas head to Colorado — don’t expect it to happen.
By that, of course, we’re referring to Mitch Marner. Some were quick to draw parallels between Rantanen and Marner, considering that both are impending unrestricted free agents this summer and both are in the elite echelon of wingers in the NHL.
One area where the line connecting the two gets crooked: Rantanen didn’t have the full protection, a no-movement clause, that Marner has in his contract.
A hometown kid who consistently has expressed a desire to remain with the Leafs, Marner would have to agree to waive that clause in order for a trade to get done. There has been zero indication from the Leafs that they would ask Marner to do so. The intention of the club has been to get Marner’s signature on a new contract, and there has been nothing to suggest that has changed.
Something else to consider: If you’re looking at it honestly, the Leafs would be unlikely to get equal or better value for Marner in the slim chance they traded him on or before March 7.
The Avalanche didn’t get equal value in the Friday blockbuster. Necas is a heck of a hockey player, but he’s not at the same level as Rantanen, and the Avs aren’t as good now as they were late on Friday.
There’s a solid list of centres that Treliving potentially could trade for, one that might include (but is not limited to) Brock Nelson of the New York Islanders, Ryan O’Reilly of the Nashville Predators, Yanni Gourde of the Seattle Kraken, Scott Laughton of the Philadelphia Flyers and Nick Bjugstad of the Utah Hockey Club.
Never mind a deal involving Marner. Upgrading in the middle has to be the priority for Treliving. If you’re the Leafs, you can’t be in a situation in the playoffs where Pontus Holmberg is centring your second line, injuries or not.
We’ll be fascinated to see, along with much of the NHL world, the direction that contract negotiations between the Leafs and Marner go. You can bet that agent Darren Ferris, driven by the desire to get what he thinks is best for Marner, won’t be browbeaten in talks. Will the Marner contract, provided it’s done with Toronto, wind up landing with an AAV of approximately $13 million US?
The Avs got ahead of the NHL pack with the stunning trade of Rantanen. Thinking that something similar could happen in Toronto with Marner in the next several weeks would be off-base.
X: @koshtorontosun