Thanks to the new NHL roster tool available on PuckPedia, fans may come up with trade ideas to find a new home for Toronto Maple Leafs player Mitch Marner.
The anticipated availability of Marner in trade packages, as well as the publicly known friendship between Maple Leafs and Utah Hockey Club superstars Auston Matthews and Clayton Keller, prompted a PuckPedia user to create a lineup that includes the Utah winger among other players.
Maple Leafs receive:
Clayton Keller
John Marino
Jack McBain
Nick Bjugstad
Hockey Club receives:
Mitchell Marner
Timothy Liljegren
Conor Timmins
David Kampf
Ronny Hirvonen
Vyacheslav Peksa, W. Villeneuve
This is not a straightforward one-for-one trade between Marner and Keller. That being said, despite the fact that it features up to 11 players (some of whom are prospects), Marner and Keller are unquestionably the stars of each franchise.
Keller is in the fifth season of an eight-year, $57.2 million contract he signed with the Arizona Coyotes (now in Utah) in September 2019. He has played 520 games for the Coyotes, scoring 166 goals and assisting 252, for a total of 418 points.
Marner has played in 576 career games, scoring 194 goals and assisting 445 for a total of 639 points. Toronto would not want to lose him for nothing when his contract expires in the summer of 2025.
As a result, this deal would enable Toronto, and especially Marner, have a fresh start elsewhere as the bona fide new and undisputed superstar of a relocated team starting from scratch. Furthermore, the trade will provide Toronto with a fresh offensive winger who has pre-existing chemistry with Matthews.
Furthermore, Toronto and Utah would swap blueliners Timothy Liljegren and John Marino (who the Hockey Club obtained in a draft-day deal on June 29).
Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews’ Links to Clayton Keller
While the above deal makes sense on its own, it follows another episode in the Matthews-Keller story.
Matthews’ latest Instagram story post (h/t Chris Gosselin to Hockey Feed), which included a photo of his dog and Keller’s on July 12, fueled “crazy” rumours about a potential deal.
@adam_la2karis uploaded the photo on X, describing it as two dogs “having a playdate.”
Matthews and Keller attended UFC 303 together in June, fueling speculation of a reunion.
Prior to their public appearances outside of the NHL circuit, Matthews and Keller spent time together at the All-Star Game as members of the same squad.
Matthews drafted Keller for his team, and the latter said that he spends time with the Leafs centre throughout the summer.
“We spend a lot of time in the summer hanging out, skating, and doing things like that, so it’s cool to be able to spend some time with him this weekend,” Keller said of Matthews on February 1.
Matthews noted during the event that Keller is “an unbelievable player” and that he “spends a lot of time with him during the summers.”
Even before the 2023-24 season began, PHNX Sports interviewed Keller about rumours linking him to the Maple Leafs.
“Yeah, it is not true. I’m just focused on myself and the team here, and I adore this set of people. “This is where I want to be right now,” Keller stated on September 11, 2023.
Mitch Marner Named the Best 2025 Undrafted Free Agent.
Marner’s current deal with the Leafs includes a full no-move clause. As a result, he has complete control over his short-term destiny in Toronto.
He’s under contract for one more year with a $10.9 million cap hit, and he may reject any trade and finish out his contract before becoming a free agent in 2025.
Ryan Dixon of Sportsnet believes this will happen. In response, he ranked Marner as the top impending UFA for the summer of 2025 in a piece released on July 18.
What makes Dixon’s list unique is that he did not include other superstars (such as Sidney Crosby and Leon Draisaitl) since he expects them to sign contract extensions before July 1, 2025.
“As the summer wears on and we get further removed from the white-hot anger over Toronto’s latest playoff stumble, the reality of the Marner situation continues to take hold and the idea he’ll be with the Leafs on Day 1 of training camp — perhaps for the last time — becomes more and more likely,” Dixon wrote about the player.
Finally, Dixon reasoned that a complete season in Toronto would result in Marner hitting the open market.
“And, at that point, why wouldn’t the right winger play out the year ahead of becoming a UFA?” Dixon pondered.
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