It’s getting more difficult to choose possible destinations for Marner that make sense for all the parties, which means the Leafs, the acquiring team and God himself.
So we’re going to throw out options and try not to think about the reality of it too much.
The Colorado Avalanche
The Avalanche are most certainly a team that is in win-now mode. They won the Stanley Cup in 2022 and I’m sure they’d like to hoist it once again. With the announcement that Gabriel Landeskog’s career isn’t over, but he has no timeline whatsoever on his return, as well as Valeri Nichushkin being suspended from the NHL for 6 months while being entered into the NHL Player Assistance Program for help with addictions, they are a contending team that has the room to fit Marner onto the roster and under the cap.
To TOR: Samuel Girard, Josh Manson, Calum Ritchie, Ivan Ivan, 1st (2024)
To COL: Mitch Marner, Timothy Liljegren
Why this works for the Avs: The Avalanche get the best player in this trade and that means they win the deal. I fully expect that Nichushkin has played his last game with the Avalanche as well, as they’ll find a trade partner for him upon his return to the NHL, so they’ll have space in the top 6 for Marner. They’ll have a few things to figure out, with backfilling their defense being high on the list, but with a top pairing of Cale Makar and Devon Toews as the only defenders to skate over 20 minutes a night it’s not a mountain that they can’t climb.
Why this works for the Leafs: Essentially Toronto would get two top 4 defenders that could play together. Combining them with Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe and Simon Benoit would already give the Leafs the best defensive group they’ve had in years, regardless of who fills the 6th spot. It would also open a little bit of capspace to fill that final defense position, which leaves the possibility of having them add another top 4 defender and giving them one of the deepest defensive groups in the NHL.
Meanwhile, Calum Ritchie is a solid centre prospect with size and skill that projects to be a 2C at the NHL level. The 1st round pick in this draft is #24, a single spot behind the Leafs’ own 1st rounder, that sits at #23. If they can make good on those two selections it would give them options in trades down the road.
Lastly, and if I’m being completely honest with everybody, they would land the prize of the trade, Ivan Ivan. The man has the same first and last name for Marner’s sake!! This is completely fuckin bonkers!! His future lies somewhere in the vicinity of Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr and Dominik Hasek combined, I assume and is likely the reason the Avalanche wouldn’t make this trade at the end of the day.