I’ll continue this series with one of the most unlikely destinations possible.
Due to the fact that the team is currently relocating, isn’t very competitive and the city itself isn’t all that high on the list of desirable locations to live, it’s unlikely that Marner will waive to join the Utah Outlaws.
In terms of the Leafs and the Blizzard? It’s a match made in heaven!!!
Once again, here’s a completely out to lunch trade proposal, made without thinking about it too much:
To Utah Yeti: Mitch Marner, Timothy Liljegren
To Toronto: Lawson Crouse, Barrett Hayton, Maverick Lamoureux, 1st (2025, top 5 protected), 2nd (2025, Toronto), 2nd (2026, lowest of their 2nd round selections), 3rd (2025, Utah)
Why it works for The Utah Mammoth: This deal, like most that I’ll be pitching in this series, would happen on July 1st. This means that the Toronto Maple Leafs would pay Marner his $7.25M signing bonus, leaving just $775K for Utah to pay in salary. That’s massive value for a team that is just breaking into the NHL and will want to put asses in seats each night. A player that has been at, or on pace for 90+ points for 6 straight seasons and 100+ points for 3 straight seasons is good for business, make no doubt about it. Paying that player pennies on the dollar? It’s an unbelievable opportunity for the Utah Black Diamonds. All Marner has to do here is list more than 1 team he’d accept a trade to and make the Utah Powder part of that list, which would create a bidding war and the above cost is attainable.
Besides the business side of things, the Utah Mountaineers have 10 picks in the 2nd round and 7 picks in the 3rd round over the next 3 drafts. In addition to that, over the past 3 drafts they’ve selected 4 players in the first 2 rounds (2021), 5 players in the first 2 rounds (2022) and in 2023 they took 3 players in the first 2 rounds, with an additional 4 in round 3. Eventually you need to stop drafting and start building a team and that could very well be the route management elects to take immediately. While they could use those picks and prospects to trade for other players around the league, skaters of Marner’s caliber simply don’t become available often. Strike while the iron is hot, as they say.
In short, they have the capspace, they’d get a star player for very little actual cash in his first year, they have a mountain of assets to deal and should have an appetite to build a more competitive team immediately. They have a core of talented forwards in Logan Cooley, Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Matias Maccelli and Dylan Guenther to surround Marner with. Meanwhile, Josh Doan just had a fantastic start to his NHL career, while Conor Geekie and Dmitry Simashev may be on the doorstep. Don’t be surprised if the Utah Venom are a competitive hockey team very soon.
From the perspective of the Utah Fury, this is an ideal trade.
Why it works for Toronto: Simply put, this ticks off every single box the Leafs have except for an immediate top 4 defender. That’s something they’d have to attain through trade or they’d have to sign with their new found capspace.
All 3 players are Ontario natives. That’s meaningless in the grand scheme of things, but it’s a nice touch nonetheless. Lawson Crouse would add size and grit to the top 6 forward group, which has long been something the Leafs are lacking. He has a nose for the net and isn’t afraid of the tough areas of the ice. He’s also signed for 3 more years with a $4.3M caphit, which is a fantastic deal for what he would add to the roster. Pending RFA Barrett Hayton, a natural centre, is in need of a change of scenery. He produced 19 goals and 43pts a year ago, but just 3 goals and 10pts in 33 games this season. If he can get back to his previous type of production he would add scoring depth to a team that needs it desperately. Lastly, Maverick Lamoureux is a 6’7″ 215lb RD. He’d be Toronto’s top defensive prospect as soon as the deal was signed and could be the steal of this trade 5 years from now.
This deal would open up capspace and assets to trade for every other need the Leafs have to fill, aka defense and goaltending, while preserving scoring depth and adding size and grit. It adds an array of picks over the next 2 drafts, which is something that is desperately needed as well. The pick from the Utah Frost in 2025, in particular, could be a very valuable top 10 selection. What it doesn’t do is outright fix the defense and goaltending, which is something I know people want, but I would argue that the spending of picks and prospects in the Dubas era f*#ked this organization beyond belief. Trading Marner is a chance to unf*#k the organization, while the roster will have to wait. A good, well run organization has a balance of a competitive roster that features younger and older players, prospects pushing for spots on that roster every other year and strength at all positions. Because it’s impossible to sign and/or trade for top pairing defenders I think you need to draft them. Moving Marner for picks that could develop into top pairing defenders actually leaves you a better chance of acquiring those types of players. That takes a lot of time and doesn’t help the current window of contention, right? We’re talking about a team that has made it out of the first round once with this current core. They’re NOT IN a window of contention and never have been. The sooner we come to terms with that, the sooner we can realize that the real window of contention will open when the next wave of prospects are playing on the NHL roster and providing good depth and skill. At the moment that next wave consists of Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten and if the Leafs don’t add some blue chip defense prospects to that list the window will remain closed.