In this edition of places where Marner might go, we’ll talk about a team that was in desperate need of offense this year, while also having the capspace to take Mitch without any major issues.
The Seattle Kraken
Seattle ranked 29th in the NHL last season in GF/GP, with the Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks as the only teams to score less goals in the regular season. On the other side of things, they ranked 9th in the NHL in GA/GP. Simply put, they did a fantastic job in terms of keeping the puck out of the net, but they desperately need players that can help score a few more in return.
While my own opinion is that they may chase players that have a shoot first mentality (they only had two 20 goals scorers and no 30 goals scorers), it’s certainly true that the opportunity to land a player that is consistently able to produce 90pts is rare, even if that player does have the tendency to pass first. Beggers can’t be choosers, so if I’m running the Kraken I’d definitely want to know what it would take to trade for Marner.
If you use the general public’s (aka, capfriendly’s arm-chair GM forum) opinion on who the Leafs should ask for from Seattle, the name Shane Wright continually pops up. However, I’m not entirely sure why they would look to move on from Wright. The former 4th overall selection from the 2022 draft is developing well and should be a full time contributor in the NHL next season. Wright, combined with Matty Beniers, the #2 selection from the 2021 draft, should combine to form their own 1-2 punch down the middle for years to come. If they had a flurry of centres coming up through the system I’d understand but, while they do have centre prospects, they really don’t have any that project to be able to fill a top-6 centre role in the near future.
Outside of Beniers and Wright there are very few players that hold much value within Seattle’s organization. Thats not to say that they don’t have good players. Vince Dunn, Adam Larsson, Jamie Oleksiak, Jared McCann, Brandon Tanev and Oliver Bjorkstrand would all be very useful players to have. However, all of those skaters hold full or partial no trade clauses and it’s well know that Canadian teams are often first on any players list of destination they would prefer not to go to. It’s cold up here in the north and the government wants to take all of your money. If I’m being honest, I can’t really blame them.
Players of interest without trade protection include William Borgen and Eeli Tolvanen.
The fact that such a large percentage of their roster owns some type of trade protection is interesting as well.
Without further ado, I’ll throw out a terrible trade scenario while fully intending to piss everybody off…… because it won’t involve Adam Larsson:
To SEA: Mitch Marner
To TOR: William Borgen, Eeli Tolvanen, Brandon Tanev, Ville Ottavainen, 1st (2025, top 5 protected)
Why this works for Seattle: The core of their team stays intact with this deal. Which means they keep their top 4 defenders, they keep their top 3 scoring forwards and they keep their 2 top prospects. They also keep their 1st round pick at this years draft (8th overall) and only have to pay out 775K in salary to Marner this year because this trade will happen on July 1st. Lastly, after Tolvanen is signed they’ll likely break even in terms of spending to the cap. They are sending out 3 NHL players and bringing back 1, which means they’ll have to draw in some free agents or promote some prospects to round out the roster, but they do have an abundance of capspace so it won’t be a concern for them.
I will say that if Larsson or Oleksiak are willing to move to Toronto, if they’re willing to deal from their few top prospects (Matty Beniers, Shane Wright, Ryker Evans), or if they’re willing to trade this years 8th overall selection and pay out $7.25M on July 1st to Marner, it changes things drastically. It’s not that I don’t think those assets would be better than the ones proposed for the Leafs, it’s that I simply don’t think they’ll be made available by the team or the players with trade protection.
Why this works for Toronto: For me, it doesn’t. I simply built the best package that I think the Kraken would offer. Technically they do have a number of prospects that were picked in the late 1st through to the end of the 2nd round over the past couple of years, but they’re also preparing to enter their 4th NHL entry draft ever. From what I can tell their scouting staff isn’t hitting any homeruns, meaning their prospect pool is underwhelming to me.
One prospect that appears to be developing nicely is 6’5″ 210lb RD, Ville Ottavainen. He’s not a defender that is about to wow you with offensive skill, but he’s good positionally and has solid gap control. He appears to be headed for the NHL at some point, the only question is how long that will take and how high in the lineup will be prove to be effective.
William Borgen, on the other hand, would give a fine boost to the Leafs’ blueline while helping their physical play and penalty killing. He blocks more shots than he takes and isn’t afraid to lay the body. I believe he has the ability to play higher in the lineup than he has in Seattle as well, but thats strictly the opinion of this writer.
You can talk about Tanev almost exactly the same way you do Borgen. He would help the Leafs’ penalty killing and physical play, while providing an engine to the bottom 6 that could help change the momentum in games. His game is based on effort, which is something I’m sure Craig Berube would love to have.
Eeli Tolvanen would help replace some of the scoring lost by Mitch Marner. The 25 year old forward has developed into a good middle-6 winger and could slot anywhere in the lineup depending on chemistry.
Lastly, just how good their pick is next season is yet to be seen, but I’m not about to predict a Seattle Kraken Stanley Cup run. My guess is the 1st rounder in 2025 would give Toronto’s scouts a very good opportunity to land a fantastic player for the future of the organization.