Since the Toronto Maple Leafs were eliminated from the playoffs by the Boston Bruins in the first round, there has been a lot of chatter and conjecture about what general manager Brad Treliving will do to turn the team around. In the Maple Leafs’ post-mortem, president and alternate governor Brendan Shanahan stated that Toronto will “look at everything” to achieve their ultimate aim of winning the Stanley Cup. Looking at everything, including breaking up the Core Four, and given that Mitch Marner has been hated by fans and media alike since his elimination, he appears to be the odd man out who might be booted out of town. When such a player becomes available, everyone wants to sign him, which makes perfect sense.
Last month, Mathias Brunet mused on his Processus Podcast about what would happen if the Maple Leafs offered Marner to the Montreal Canadiens for the five overall choice in the 2024 Draft, and the concept has since been widely discussed in Montreal. Here are three reasons why the planned transaction would never materialize. Marner is an established NHL star. The Maple Leafs are Stanley Cup contenders, so trading Marner would require a return that would benefit them now or very soon. At the very least, veteran NHL players are expected to return to help the team address the difficulties that continue to plague it.
As things are, Toronto needs to find some firepower up front that isn’t afraid to get their hands dirty and doesn’t mind the high traffic in front of the net. There’s no doubting that the situation on the internet is concerning. Joseph Woll was excellent in the playoffs once he was given the net, but his injury issues are concerning. Without a goalkeeper, a contender is frequently reduced to the status of a pretender. Marner has played 576 NHL games and scored 639 points. He averages more than one point per game. There is no one on the Canadiens’ roster who comes close to that level of production. Captain Nick Suzuki has received 286.