Brad Treliving Urged to Target Ideal Linemate for William Nylander

While Toronto focuses towards an era without Mitch Marner, they still have a ton of firepower left to stay competitive. Auston Matthews and William Nylander are still locked up, plus John Tavares and Matthew Knies are more than likely returning.

It would be great for the team to replace Marner, but that's going to be tough. If Marner is gone, that leaves a huge hole up top, however.

But what if the team shifted gears from stacking their top line, and helped out their other superstar instead? One analyst seems to think so.

Looking at adding Vegas Golden Knights center William Karlsson would be a huge addition for the team in more ways than one.

A very solid two-way player, Karlsson is coming off a down year but don't let that fool you. He's averaged 46.6 points over the last five seasons, winning over 52% of his face-offs, a plus-62, and is a former 40 goal-scorer.

His offense is solid, but he's always in the running for the Selke, he manages to come up in the clutch and is great shorthanded (six over the last five seasons, not bad for a typically offensive player).

His team's are typically better with Karlsson on the ice, and his deeper possession numbers certainly bring a smile to those with an analytics brain. He's the perfect addition for Nylander.

Plus, adding a fellow Team Sweden teammate and someone who he has experience playing with and can form a deeper bond with, and in turn create more chemistry and at only $5.9M?

That's a bargain and over half of what a potential Marner deal would cost.

Not for nothing, it's not like Tavares can't handle the pressure of being a second line center. He just did so and put up his second-best goal total since arriving in Toronto (38).

The issue is that he's not getting any younger, and if they can slot him into the third line role, it helps two things. 1) Toronto doesn't need to go out and buy a #2 center like Sam Bennett and 2) They can move Scott Laughton to the fourth, and make some cap space with a David Kampf buyout.

A third line of potentially Tavares, McMann and maybe Easton Cowan could bring a lot of intrigue and offense to a typically anemic third line, and the fourth line doesn't get worse; with Laughton, Holmberg, and a re-signed Steven Lorentz.

Here's how things might look:

This gives Toronto a much more balanced lineup, and doesn't sacrifice the offense of Tavares, but keeps the third line still as defensively sound (though you can swap McMann for Holmberg if you want more defense).

It also hinges on Nicholas Robertson re-signing, and Toronto keeping onto Max Domi's bloated contract, but this feels less of a top-heavy lineup than in years previous.

So Toronto should seriously try and see if Vegas will part with Karlsson; they need to dump cap, and the Leafs could entice them with a prospect or two.

It also gives William Nylander another weapon, where he might see his first 50-goal season if the two come together and create some Scandinavian magic.