Insider Pierre LeBrun reveals which superstar will be traded out of Toronto!

The Toronto Maple Leafs have fallen short of expectations this postseason, getting eliminated in the second round by the Florida Panthers. This immediately prompted rumours of significant changes in Toronto, not only in the front office, but especially at the core of the star players upfront.

During his end-of-season press conference, GM Kyle Dubas mentioned that he would not rule out anything in order to improve his roster for next season, including the possibility of trading one of the four members of his offensive core. Dubas even went further by giving the example the Panthers who went balls out to trade out Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar in order to acquire Matthew Tkachuk, which paid off big time for the underdogs in Florida.

The four members of the Leafs hard core in attack are of course Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, John Tavares as well as William Nylander. Something needs to happen in Toronto and it wouldn’t be surprising to the core being broken up in the summer in an effort to improve depth and free up space under the salary cap.

Insider Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic has shared his theory on which of the four forwards he believes could be sacrificed and pushed out on the trade block. In his analysis, LeBrun suggests that Matthews is untouchable and will sign a contract extension. He also believes Tavares can’t be traded under his no-move clause, and that Nylander is less attractive as he only has one year left on his current deal.

It leaves Marner, whose contract still holds two years remaining along with a no-move clause that only comes into motion until July 1st. According to LeBrun, Marner therefore is the most attractive of the four players and especially the one who would have the more teams involved in a bidding war.

As for the asking price to pry Marner out of Toronto, LeBrun believes the Leafs will demand at least one impact defenseman in any trade involving the star forward.

It is no secret that it will be a busy summer in Toronto, one that could include moving trucks for Marner.

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