3 players the Toronto Maple Leafs should trade away

The Toronto Maple Leafs are a great team. Make no mistake about it. Their playoff woes make people act differently but they have been one of the best teams in the NHL for the last half decade or so.

Of course, some roster issues come with winning as players become more expensive. The Leafs just don’t have a Stanley Cup to show for all of their success so it makes it look worse.

On Wednesday, the Maple Leafs and Auston Matthews agreed to a four-year extension. Those four years will see him at a 13.25 cap hit. That is a great deal for both sides.

He will be the highest-paid player in NHL history in terms of average annual value once that deal kicks in. He still has one year left on his old contract worth 11.64 million.

If the Maple Leafs are going to get back under the cap, they are going to need to make some moves. These are three players that they could, in theory, trade very soon:

The Toronto Maple Leafs may be forced to trade William Nylander away.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have had some amazing years with William Nylander. He developed into a really good forward and one of the ten best wingers in the NHL.

In 2022-23, Nylander had 40 goals and 47 assists for 87 points in 82 games. Obviously, that is outstanding production on a very good team.

Nylander has one year left on his deal making just under seven million. He is clearly going to get a significant raise once the contract is up.

It is hard to see the Maple Leafs being able to afford him with Matthews, Marner, and Tavares all making ten million or more.

Relief could come to the Leafs if they decided to trade Nylander now. They have enough firepower up front to make up for the loss but it would still be hard to give up on that luxury.

They’d certainly get a lot back in return which is a reason to consider it. Obviously, the two sides don’t want to part ways but they very well might be forced to.

The Toronto Maple Leafs may consider trading away an expensive defenseman.

The Toronto Maple Leafs don’t have this incredibly deep defense core but they do have some expendable pieces because of their contracts.

TJ Brodie is a very good player for the Leafs on the blue line. He isn’t an offensive superstar or anything like that but he is a solid player to have on the team for defensive purposes.

His team puts the puck on the net more than it gets put on their net when he is on the ice. Teams value that for second and third-pair guys.

Brodie being traded away would free up five million dollars for the Leafs. Certainly, it can be time for one of their younger players (Brodie is 33) to step up and play some of those minutes.

It could also be the type of move that lands the Maple Leafs something valuable for either right now or in the future.

Again, they wouldn’t love making a move like this because they’d be losing a veteran who plays well but freeing up some of that cap is a good idea.