With the free agent market nearly void of options two weeks into July, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New York Rangers find themselves in a similar position on fixing the final needs in their rosters for the 2024-25 season.
The Rangers are still looking for a bonafide top-line right winger to deploy across Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. The Maple Leafs lack depth in their defense corps while having a surplus of forwards.
Coincidentally, both teams could be interested in moving a player that fits each other’s needs: right winger Mitch Marner of the Maple Leafs and right defenseman Jacob Trouba of the Rangers.
A Heavy Sports trade proposal would give New York the top-line forward they need in exchange for a defenseman that would slot nicely as a Leafs’ second-pair defenseman.
Rangers get:
– Mitch Marner
Maple Leafs get:
– Jacob Trouba
For this trade to happen, however, both players would need to accept the transaction. Marner has a full no-move clause baked into his contract. Meanwhile, Trouba has a 15-team no-trade list added to his contract, and he’d need to leave Toronto outside of it.
That said, both teams and players make for perfect salary and cap-space matches in the event of a trade. According to PuckPedia, a one-for-one trade would work for both franchises.
The Leafs would end up with $3.8 million in cap space and the Rangers would absorb the difference in the players’ salaries. New York has $5.1 million in cap space before completing the trade, more than enough to land Marner’s cap-hit difference.
Rangers Looking to Move On From Jacob Trouba
The Rangers asked Jacob Trouba for his 15-team no-trade list ahead of free agency, as reported by Arthur Staple of The Athletic on June 27.
The Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings had a trade “in the works” during the draft weekend, as reported by Larry Brooks of the New York Post on June 29.
Furthermore, Emily Kaplan of ESPN revealed on July 9 that Trouba blocked a trade to Detroit by including the Red Wings in his 15-team no-trade list.
“There was a deal in place with the Red Wings, I am told, and Jacob used the power he earned in his contract to block it, and that’s within his right,” Kaplan said while appearing on TSN’s Jain Onrait show.
Trouba scored 3 goals and 19 assists for 22 points in 69 regular-season games in 2024. Moreover, he added 1 goal and 6 assists in 16 postseason contests. Trouba has two years left on his seven-year, $56 million contract.
Staple and Peter Baugh listed the Maple Leafs as one of the top trade fits for Trouba on June 27 in a potential deal with the Rangers.
“Big, right-shot defensemen like Trouba always entice teams. The Maple Leafs are going to be tight against the salary cap, but perhaps they’d be interested,” they wrote. “They have a need on the right side.”
As mentioned above, Trouba would need to accept and unlock a trade to Toronto by not including the Leasf in his no-trade list. Staple and Baugh stated in their article that “all seven north-of-the-border clubs could be on his no-trade list.”
Mitch Marner’s Days With Maple Leafs Could Be Numbered
There have been a lot of rumors and talk about Marner’s situation in Toronto and what the Maple Leafs will do next. Marner is entering the final season of his six-year, $65.4 million contract with the franchise.
Some mid-July ponderings on the Maple Leafs t.co/EaTOR8ecpo via @koshtorontosun #Leafs #MapleLeafs #LeafsForever
According to Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun, in a report published on July 12, a Marner trade could happen by the second week of July.
“The word coming out of the NHL draft at the end of June in Las Vegas was that if—a big if—Mitch Marner was going to be traded, it would take some time to consummate and probably wouldn’t happen for a couple of weeks,” Koshan wrote. “We’re heading into that territory on the calendar now.”
Marner, on the other hand, has made clear he wants to sign an extension to stay in Toronto for the long term. He told that to media members during the end-of-season availability on May 6.
“That’d be a goal. I’ve expressed my love for this place, this city. Obviously, I’ve grown up here. We’ll start thinking about that now and trying to figure something out… It means the world to me,” Marner said.
Leafs general manager Brad Treliving spoke to reporters at the NHL combine on June 3 and warned fans and reporters about the speculation surrounding Marner, as told by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.
“The thing I would say is, be very, very careful of what you read out there,” Treliving said on June 3, via LeBrun, when asked about Marner’s ongoing speculation.
“Mitch is a hell of a player. We’re not going to comment on any players. We’re not going to do play-by-play on it,” Treliving said. “We’ve got to look at every possible way for our team to be better.”
