Underrated Maple Leafs Forward Emerges as Top Trade Target Ahead of Free Agency

The 2025-26 season for Toronto is going to look a lot different from this past one, not only because Mitch Marner is headed elsewhere, but there are certainly some faces who can either use a change of scenery, be it their choice or not.

Toronto has a few members of the roster who could find themselves on the outs this summer, especially given their lack of production.

Max Domi's contract might lead him to be traded, but one other player should be a priority to get rid of, because it's going to cost them.

Calle Jarnkrok needs to get traded, not only because he's an aging veteran with a serious lack of production, but he gets a huge signing bonus on July 1, and Toronto really can't afford to pay that.

Adding a $1.35M bonus would seriously hurt their prospective plans, especially if Jarnkrok is only going to get worse. Trying to recoup some assets for him is extremely important.

But Toronto can certainly find a team willing to take on the bonus. There are several teams who could use a bottom-six veteran, and being paid the league minimum is a paltry amount considering what some free agents will make.

Is that worth a risk for other teams to take?

Pittsburgh, Nashville, and Utah spring to mind as potential risk-takers.

Jarnkrok can reunite with Kyle Dubas and some of his former teammates (if they re-sign too), helping their younger stars transition through their semi-rebuild.

Or he could head back to Nashville where he honed his craft for the first eight years of his career. Jarnkrok registered 211 points with the Predators, and only 67 with the Maple Leafs; clearly he has offensive potential but never reached it here.

Does heading back to where it began help rekindle that? It would bring him back with Barry Trotz who helped coach him, and who now runs the show in Nashville and they have cap space.

But what about the new kid on the block? Utah is struggling to find their place in the league, and with a very young lineup, adding a veteran in Jarnkrok isn't the worst idea going forward.

He becomes the third oldest player on the team, and oldest forward. He's dealt with a litany of injuries over the past two seasons, but has shown he has the capability to help an offense.

For Utah, a team looking to add a proven veteran, on an extremely cheap deal nonetheless seems too good to pass up, and they have plenty of draft capital to give to Toronto in return.

But either way you spin it, Toronto needs to get rid of Jarnkrok and recoup an asset or two and open up space. It's unfortunate that he never got back to the level of his debut with the Maple Leafs.

This is a cutthroat business though, and sometimes it's best to cut your losses.