Nick Kypreos’ “Trade Board 4.0”—released on Wednesday this week—contained a segment discussing the possibility of the Carolina Hurricanes trading Mikko Rantanen at the deadline.
Kyper mentioned that the Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the teams interested, saying, “In the East, the Florida Panthers could be a team in the running for Rantanen if Matthew Tkachuk’s long-term groin injury potentially ends his regular season. And don’t rule out the Toronto Maple Leafs either, as they could acquire Rantanen as a bit of security in case Mitch Marner decides to head to free agency on July 1. They could seamlessly replace Marner with Rantanen on a line with Auston Matthews and could probably get an extension done.”
This is an interesting proposal, which was discussed further on Sportsnet 590’s Real Kyper & Bourne Wednesday afternoon. Kypreos furthered his thoughts in an opinion piece in the Toronto Star on Thursday, putting forward a package including Bobby McMann, Easton Cowan or Fraser Minten, plus a draft pick, likely a high one.
Another name that has been put forward going the other way in a Rantanen trade is Matthew Knies. It’s clear that the Leafs would likely have to part with a roster player, a top prospect, and draft picks.
The situation
Carolina could retain 50% of Mikko Rantanen’s salary, and given that Chicago is retaining 50% of his total $9.25M already, this would mean the Leafs would get Rantanen for only $2.31M.
Rantanen is in the last year of his six-year contract he signed with the Colorado Avalanche, making him a pure rental at the deadline. There are rumours that Carolina is prepared to offer him an 8-year extension worth over $100M, but insiders are unsure if Rantanen is willing to commit.
The idea of adding Rantanen as a rental is certainly appealing. Rantanen is more than a point-per-game player, a crucial piece of the Avalanche Cup run, and a true star. He could easily fit into the Leafs top-six and provide meaningful secondary scoring, which has long been an issue for this team.
Is it a worthy gamble for the Leafs?
Since arriving in Carolina, Rantanen’s production has slowed. He has only two goals and three assists for five points in nine games, below his historic production. Yet, he is still an all-star calibre player, and if the Leafs could convince him to re-sign, he would certainly provide value for the team.
The idea of using a Rantanen trade as a hedge against the possibility of Marner leaving is enticing. Should Marner decide to test free agency this offseason, using his cap space to sign Mikko Rantanen could even be seen as an upgrade.
Additionally, the Leafs are very much in win-now mode, with significant roster changes possibly coming this offseason as John Tavares and Mitch Marner are both on expiring contracts. It’s looking like the Leafs will cruise to a playoff spot, and adding Rantanen to this lineup would certainly make Toronto’s forward corps among the best, if not the best in the league.
There are certainly holes in the Leafs lineup, most notably third-line centre and right defence. However, the possibility of a double retained Rantanen might supersede those needs.
What about the cost…
Looking at what has been proposed going the other way in a trade, Matthew Knies, Bobby McMann, and Nicholas Robertson have been the roster players named. On the prospect side, Easton Cowan and Fraser Minten are the two top prospects that Carolina would likely request. Finally, it’s worth noting that the Leafs don’t have their 2025 first-round draft pick as they dealt that to Chicago in the deal that brought Jake McCabe to Toronto.
Both Matthew Knies and Nick Robertson are on expiring contracts and are pending RFAs. Of the two, Knies has certainly been the more productive player, averaging 0.53 PPG in comparison to Robertson’s 0.37 PPG. Conversely, this also means that Knies is by far the more attractive trade piece.
Bobby McMann is an interesting idea and the name that Kypreos mentioned directly. 6ix On Ice’s Cody Misyk wrote an excellent piece detailing McMann’s impact on the Leafs and his potential value as a trade piece.
As for prospects, both Minten and Cowan are top-tier players, and one would most likely be included in a deal. Ryan Ma has two wonderful pieces looking at them, here and here.
The general gist is that neither of them should be traded unless it’s a blockbuster, of which the Rantanen deal certainly qualifies.
The Leafs have a dearth of draft picks, and this deal is certainly more future-trading for the possibility of winning now. If Treliving pulls the trigger, he’s certainly committing almost all his chips.
Massive success or giant failure
It’s worth mentioning that the strategy of relying on a few highly paid stars as the core of your hockey team has been a demonstrable failure for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Don’t get me wrong, the addition of Mikko Rantanen to this team would make it significantly better and shoot up the chances for a deep playoff run. However, if the Stanley Cup isn’t won by Toronto, the idea of swapping out Marner for Rantanen, while trading away key roster players and prospects, sounds like Groundhog Day.
Brad Treliving is certainly working the phones, and Toronto has been linked to multiple players. Trading for Mikko Rantanen is a moonshot, and only time will tell whether Treliving has the guts to make that call.
