Case Growing for the Maple Leafs To Trade a Member of the Core Four

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James Connelly
June 18, 2023 (10:02)

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The core four are obviously the most valuable members of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the case to trade one member now to get great now is quietly growing.

Core Four More Unstable Than Ever

The core four has potentially never been stronger. Mitch Marner scored at a 100-point pace, John Tavares was at a point per game, William Nylander just put up career highs, and Auston Matthews scored 40 goals while struggling with injuries all year.

While the core four are big point-getters for the Leafs, they have proven time and time again that they are not cut for the playoffs having won only one playoff series since being established in the late 2010s.

In a recent Sportsnet article, Justin Bourne dove into a few options for the Maple Leafs if they do decide to trade away a core four member.

Enticing Options

If the Leafs made any core four member available, the list of teams interested would probably include over half of the league. Bourne went into a list of things the Leafs could do, from acquiring elite goaltending, to shut down defenseman, to another star forward, the interest would be whatever the Leafs want.

Of the options that Bourne listed, the two most interesting ones are acquiring Pierre-Luc Dubois or Erik Karlsson. While the price to acquire Dubois would likely only be around the cost of William Nylander, bringing in Karlsson would cost at least Mitch Marner.

Here, we would get to see the talent more spread out and more lines and players do big things. The most likely option for the Leafs would be to trade down in a core four trade. That would mean that the Leafs trade away 1-2 assets while receiving maybe 4+ assets in return.

While it is an unsexy trade, the idea of making one of these types of trades would bolster the franchise far more in the future than just getting another bonafide star.