With the free agent market largely depleted two weeks into July, the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers find themselves in similar situations with their clubs’ remaining needs for the 2024-25 season.
The Rangers are still hunting for a top-line right winger to play alongside Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. The Maple Leafs’ defence lacks depth, despite possessing a plethora of forwards.
Coincidentally, each team may be interested in moving a player who meets the other’s needs: right winger Mitch Marner of the Maple Leafs and right defenseman Jacob Trouba of the Rangers.
Heavy Sports’ trade idea swaps the two, giving New York the top-line forward they require in exchange for a defenseman who would fit well as the Leafs’ second-pair defenseman.
To make this trade happen, both participants must agree to the transaction. Marner’s contract includes a full no-move provision for the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Meanwhile, Trouba has a 15-team no-trade list for the 2024 season, which would require him to leave Toronto.
However, both teams and players make ideal salary and cap-space matchups in the case of a trade. According to PuckPedia, a one-for-one transfer would benefit both franchises.
The Leafs would end up with $3.8 million in salary space, while the Rangers would absorb the difference in salaries. Before making the move, New York had $5.1 million in cap space, which was more than enough to cover Marner’s cap hit differential.
Rangers Look to Move On From Jacob Trouba
On June 27, The Athletic’s Arthur Staple claimed that the Rangers requested Trouba for his 15-team no-trade list ahead of free agency.
On June 29, Larry Brooks of the New York Post reported that the Rangers and the Detroit Red Wings had a trade “in the works” during draft weekend.
On July 9, Emily Kaplan of ESPN claimed that Trouba rejected a trade to Detroit by adding the Red Wings on 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, which is his right,” Kaplan stated during an appearance on TSN’s Jay Onrait show.
Trouba had three goals and 19 assists for 22 points in 69 regular-season games in 2024. Furthermore, he has one goal and six assists in 16 postseason games. Trouba has two years remaining on his seven-year, $56 million contract.
According to Staple and Peter Baugh, one of the best trade options for Trouba is with the Maple Leafs.
“Big, right-handed defenseman like Trouba always fascinate teams. The Maple Leafs will be tight on the salary cap, but they may be intrigued,” they wrote in The Athletic on June 27. “They have a need on the right side.”
However, Staple and Baugh reported that “all seven north-of-the-border clubs could be on his no-trade list.”
Mitch Marner’s days with the Maple Leafs could be numbered.
Marner is entering the final season of his six-year, $65.4 million contract with the Maple Leafs, and there is much speculation about what they will do next.
Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun said on July 12 that a Marner deal might take place 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,” says Koshan. “We’re heading into that territory on the calendar now.”
Marner, on the other hand, has stated that he wants to sign an extension to stay in Toronto for the long haul. He told reporters this during his end-of-season availability on May 6.
“That would be the goal. I’ve proclaimed my affection for this location, this city. Obviously, I have grown up here. We’ll think about it now and attempt to find something out. “It means everything to me,” Marner remarked.
On June 3, Leafs general manager Brad Treliving addressed reporters at the NHL combine and warned them about the speculation surrounding Marner, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.
“The thing I would say is, be very, very careful of what you read out there,” Treliving told LeBrun on June 3, in response to Marner’s persistent speculation.
“Mitch is an excellent player. We will not remark on any players. “We are not going to do play-by-play on it,” Treliving stated. “We’ve got to look at every possible way for our team to be better.”
Leave a Reply