Should the Leafs trade Mitch Marner?

The Nashville Predators need a star offensive player like Mitch Marner, who is on the trade block for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs don’t want to trade Marner, but the writing could be on the wall as they battle an extreme cap crunch. Ex-General Manager Kyle Dubas left the team in a difficult spot when he signed Marner, Auston Matthews, John Tavares, and Morgan Reilly to large contracts. William Nylander still needed to be signed, which new GM Brad Treliving did with an $11.5 million deal.

The Leafs’ failure to reach the second round was a longstanding drought and a joke in league circles. It was hard to believe how many times they failed to advance, which included blowing a 4-1 lead in a Game 7 and a 3-1 lead in a series against two of their biggest rivals. Toronto advanced to the second round last season with a six-game series win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. After slaying the first-round demon, they thought it was time to do it again against the Bruins in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, a team that had beaten them in three straight first rounds in the 2010s. However, it didn’t happen, as the Bruins won Game 7 in overtime.

The Leafs now have $18 million in cap space this upcoming offseason but have a defense they need to rebuild and a lack of a standout No. 1 goaltender. The goaltender is where the Predators come in for a trade, as they could be looking to trade one of their NHL goalies with a stud goaltender waiting in the wings with their AHL team in Milwaukee. What is the perfect trade for the Predators to land Mitch Marner from the Maple Leafs?

Leafs land their new No. 1  

It makes the most sense for the Leafs to solve their goaltending issues by acquiring one for Mitch Marner. If you look around the league, there are some intriguing options in the net, but most won’t fancy a trade with the Maple Leafs. The Calgary Flames have Jacob Markstom available, but they don’t have much room for Marner. The Boston Bruins have Linus Ullmark available, but there’s no way either team would risk those players going the other way and winning them a Stanley Cup. The only real option for a Mitch Marner trade is to try and pry Juuse Saros away from the Predators.

Saros has been a stud for the Predators, owning a save percentage above .900 every season. He was a worthy successor to Pekka Rinne, the best goaltender in the Predators’ history. Ironically, the same situation could be happening here with Yaroslav Askarov. Askarov looked good in two appearances with the Predators this season, recording a .943 save percentage and a 1.47 goals-against average. He has been lights out for Nashville’s AHL team and is ready to enter the NHL full-time. The only question for the Predators is if they’d rather him sit behind Saros this season like Saros did with Rinne or take over the starting duties.

The supporting argument for them to trade Saros is that he is in the final year of a $5 million deal. Saros will demand a lot more once he becomes a UFA in 2025, and the Predators may not be willing to pay him with Askarov there. The Predators should trade Saros if Askarov is their choice in goal instead of letting him walk in free agency and getting nothing in return.

Here is the proposed deal to acquire Marner, who owns a no-trade list and would need to sign off on any potential destination as he approaches the final year of his contract.

Leafs receive: Juuse Saros, 2025 1st-Round Pick, Joakim Kemell, 2024 2nd-Round Pick

Predators receive: Mitch Marner

© Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
The Predators acquired Tampa Bay’s first-round draft pick in 2025 in the haul they received for Tanner Jeannot. The extra first-round pick next year gives them the flexibility to trade their first-rounder to acquire Marner. The Predators also have three second-round picks in this year’s draft, so they can afford to give one of those to the Leafs. Juuse Saros will be the crucial piece in this deal, but the Leafs will likely require Saros to agree to a contract extension so they don’t lose him after the 2024-25 season. With the media and fan scrutiny, Toronto can be difficult for goaltenders, so they’d want to lock Saros in with the fear he wouldn’t want to stick around.

Adding Joakim Kemell to the deal would also be a big win for the Maple Leafs. The 2022 first-round pick has 54 points in 81 AHL games since coming to North America. Most importantly for the Leafs, he has shown an ability to elevate his game during the playoffs, with 21 points in 29 career postseason contests.