The Toronto Maple Leafs are in a tough spot, especially with forward William Nylander. They are probably going to have to change their roster after another first-round exit, but the changes they want to make might not be easy.
Three forwards on their roster have some form of trade protection with Tavares carrying a no-move clause and Kerfoot and Simmonds both having modified no-trade clauses. Their blue line has four players with clauses with Rielly, Muzzin, Brodie and Holl. The point is, making a trade to shake things up cannot involve a lot of key players in this organization.
The Maple Leafs have four-star forwards within their organization. Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander. Nylander is on the cheapest deal at just 6.96 million a season for the next two seasons while guys like Taveras and Matthews are making 11 million.
While I think most people would be shocked to see the team make a deal involving any of Marner, Tavares or Matthews, I think trading one of those three guys makes more sense than trading Nylander.
Trading William Nylander wouldn’t be easy when it comes to getting a fair return. Teams would recognize the position the organization is in and wouldn’t give them as much as they feel Nylander is worth. I do not think any team can get away with that for either Marner or Matthews.
Both of those players are coming off some of the best seasons in their careers and they can instantly transform an organization. Nylander has also been good but his best feature is his contract that few teams would pay extra for.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to want to work at making their team better this offseason. While in years past they have run it back to try it again with this group, this season doesn’t seem like the same result will happen after yet another first-round exit despite being up 3-2 in the series at one point.
The Maple Leafs are going to want to shake up this organization and bring in some new life to help win in the postseason. Maybe the player they do decide to trade away shouldn’t be the one on the best deal compared to some of the other forwards around him.