Mitch Marner Exit Opens Door for Maple Leafs to Target Two Cap Dump Steals
Photo credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs might be able to add a huge piece or two to their roster and one is a pretty familiar face who could come in and help immensely.
With the Core 4 era set to be over and Mitch Marner headed elsewhere this coming free agency, there are a lot of concerns about who the Maple Leafs are going to bring in to replace him, and whether it will be enough to finally break through in the postseason.
There are a few key names who they could go after in free agency such as Sam Bennett, Carter Verhaeghe, and Brock Boeser. Though they would be fairly costly, they could decide to go another route to acquire those much needed pieces.
A few teams this summer are needing to get their contract priorities straight, and with them looking to dump some salary, the Maple Leafs should be looking to see what they might cost.
A couple of players who could bring things forward in Toronto are forwards William Karlsson and Mason Marchment; the latter being a former member of the roster.
Toronto Would Vastly Improve With Mason Marchment And/Or William Karlsson
While he's struggled a bit since his breakout 43-goal output in his debut season with the Vegas Golden Knights, he had a 30-goal output last year, but only nine this season.
He was handicapped with injuries, but when he's on the ice is a very solid producer.
Sure, he won't be a top line replacement for Mitch Marner, but Toronto needs lower level scoring and he would fit perfectly on the third line; potentially alongside John Tavares.
Karlsson wins face-offs, plays excellent defense, is as disciplined as ever (a huge checkmark in the Craig Berube agenda), and has 74 points in 111 playoff games; oh and he won a Cup too.
For his career, Karlsson has 446 points in 738 games and has spent time with Anaheim, Columbus, and Vegas; he currently makes $5.9M for the next two seasons, and would be a solid addition to a team with a sudden influx of cap space.
Marchment on the other hand would return to the team who is probably regretting moving him in the first place.
Traded from Toronto for Denis Malgin, he suddenly came into his own and became a very solid third-line producer.
Playing in the Conference Finals with Dallas, he offers a great defensive skillset, a physical edge (6'5, 212 pounds), and has back to back 22-goal seasons.
To put that into perspective, Toronto's third line players of Max Domi, Pontus Holmberg, Calle Jarnkrok, Nick Robertson, and Max Pacioretty combined for 36 total this year; while they beat him in total goals...that's SIX players opposed to one.
But Dallas, as much as they wanna keep him, can't afford to especially with having to re-sign franchise icon Jamie Benn, as well as potentially re-signing players like Matt Duchene and Mikael Granlund.
They also have a ton of money tied up in big deals next season, with the Mikko Rantanen and Jake Oettinger contracts, plus Roope Hintz and Tyler Seguin's mega-deals.
Oh, they also need to re-sign phenom Jason Robertson too, as he is going to be an RFA in 2026-27 and is undoubtedly a huge part of the Stars going forward.
So a cap dump for Marchment is also a necessity, and the Maple Leafs could easily come in and trade off some pieces (perhaps Nick Robertson gets to join his brother) to bring him aboard.
Marchment had 47 points in 62 games (22G, 25A) while adding 79 hits, 21 blocks, and a plus-15 rating this season; he is signed for $4.5M through next season.
| POLL | ||
MAI 21 | 967 ANSWERS Mitch Marner Exit Opens Door for Maple Leafs to Target Two Cap Dump Steals Should the Maple Leafs target Mason Marchment as an offseason acquisition? | ||
| Yes | 659 | 68.1 % |
| No | 308 | 31.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
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