NHL Rumors: Could Toronto Maple Leafs and Nashville Predators Meet on Mitch Marner Deal?

Nation of Leaves: David Pagnotta on Leafs Morning Take from The Leafs Nation on Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner. The Nashville Predators may be the team that has already called the Leafs about Marner to say, if you’re interested in moving him, let us know.

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“He might come to them and say, ‘Okay, I would consider team A, B and C.’ It may not be 10 teams, it may not be 15. There may be only a few he can think of.

You know, I wrote about it over the weekend, I think Nashville and I believe Nashville at one point was one of the teams that said if you’re thinking of moving him, give us a call. And I think there’s a strong fit there and a rare trade-off that benefits both clubs when dealing with star talent.

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And in the National Hockey League now and let’s be honest, that like Mitch is considered in that top group to be a guy with 90 points or a pace of 90-plus points, each of the last six seasons. Not that most guys couldn’t do that. So there is a ton of value there.

You know, it’s one year away. I wrote about Juice Saros. He still has one year to go. Obviously there will have to be other pieces and expanded, but I think, from a core perspective I think that’s a good fit for both clubs.

We’ll obviously wait and see what Tre and if you know him and Barry Trotz actually get to that point of conversation. But I think there is a logical approach for all groups, including athletes.

So, again, I think if you’re going to do it, try to do something bold, and you know, Treliving talking about being talented is one thing, but you have to have those other pieces, those intangible pieces as part of a team to chase the Stanley Cup. And I think Toronto is going to look at all of its options in terms of how you fit those pieces into your roster, going forward.

So I think again, there will be some kind of discussion related to that. When and how that arrives, we’ll have to wait and see. But I have to think, you know, a lot of teams are used to the calendar turning in June, that’s when things started to pick up for the teams that they’re out of, building the rosters for the next season.

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You’ve got a draft that’s like, at least, conversation-wise, it’s trade deadline 2.0. Work-wise it’s been a bit hectic, but hopefully, we’ll get some fireworks this year. And the fact that it’s in Vegas at the Sphere. I think the league encourages other teams if you can make big moves, that would be a good time to do it.