Insider Proposes Intriguing Trade Target for Maple Leafs This Summer

Insider proposes Leafs go after recent Stanley Cup champ

As the dust settles on yet another disastrous finish to a Toronto Maple Leafs season, all the talk turns to what's next? Changes will be coming.. Major changes. From the top on down.

And if players like Mitch Marner, an unrestricted free agent, will be gone, who will they bring in to change the narrative?

"If you were going to be bold, what would be the move that you would make?" asked insider Elliotte Friedman on his 32 Thoughts podcast Monday morning. "A reasonable player, that you could go out and get, who's that player?"

Before answering his own question, Friedman eliminates pending UFA Sam Bennett from the equation, as he feels that the Florida Panthers will re-sign him. "I can't see Sam Bennett coming up (to Toronto) and putting up with all the (media) noise."

He also takes perennial Leaf killer and public enemy No. 1 Brad Marchand off the table for the purposes of this question (while admitting that he would be the top choice).

So, who then? According to Friedman, and it's only his proposal, without any inside info, he says the Leafs should target a trade for a recent Stanley Cup champion and Conn Smythe Trophy winner:

Jonathan Marchessault... Tough year in Nashville, they need to make some changes. He's 34 years old, four more years (on his contract), fierce competitor... Depending on how it all shakes out, that was another name that jumped into my head.

Marchessault led the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup in 2023, and after spending seven years there as an Original Misfit, Vegas shockingly let him go in free agency last summer to the Nashville Predators, on a five-year, $5.5 million AAV contract.

Could Jonathan Marchessault be a Maple Leafs' trade target?

Marchessault himself had a down season this year, with just 21 goals and 56 points, his lowest totals in four years. And the Predators had a tremendously disappointing season. Is he looking for a new situation? Are the Preds interested in moving on from him after their big investment?

He's certainly the type of gritty, hard-working, physical player that the Leafs need, to win those puck battles and lead in the playoffs. The Conn Smythe on his mantlepiece is evidence of that.

At this point, there's no indication that either side in Nashville is ready to break things up. But it would be interesting to see if the Leafs can finally bring in a player (or more appropriately, players – plural) of that ilk.

The offseason chaos in Toronto is only about to get started.