Rumor of a massive player for player trade between the Leafs and Hurricanes.

Two first round picks could be swapped in blockbuster trade.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
Rumor of a massive player for player trade between the Leafs and Hurricanes.
TSN

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner has been demoted to the team's fourth line by head coach Mike Babcock and he has remained there even despite some strong performances since his demotion.

This combined with the fact that there are now rumors of a potential long-term team-friendly deal between the Maple Leafs and veteran forward James van Riemsdyk and a lot of the trade speculation that was once around van Riemsdyk has shifted to Marner himself. 

Sportsnet's Rory Boylen has proposed a very interesting solution to a potential Marner trade, one that would seem him swapped for a player that was picked just one spot behind him in the 2015 National Hockey League Entry Draft.

Boylen believes that the Leafs and the Carolina Hurricanes are in a perfect position to be trading partners with the Hurricanes needed help up front while having a wealth of depth on defense, and with the Leafs needing help on the back end while having a wealth of talent at the forward position.

From Boylen:

Certainly the Leafs winger is the better NHL player today, but with Hanifin’s pedigree and the fact it more often than not takes blueliners longer to develop, there is still some question on which of the two will be the better NHLer over the course of their careers.

[pub]

Hanifin currently plays a little more than 18 minutes of ice time per game, which would be fifth among Toronto’s blueliners because they lean on their top-four more than do the Hurricanes. But if a hypothetical move like this was made, you’d figure Hanifin would slide into Toronto’s top four and move Ron Hainsey down to the bottom pair. At the same time, Marner would move back up in the lineup with Carolina.

Boylen's colleague at Sportsnet believes that this is a deal that Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis would contemplate. 

“That’s where Ron Francis [Carolina Hurricanes general manager] goes, ‘Listen, this Marner thing ain’t working for you, he’s on your fourth line. I’ll take him,'” said Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos.

Would veteran general manager Lou Lamoriello be willing to trade Marner for a defenseman that many believe will one day be a stud at the NHL level? Considering he presided over a very defensive-minded Devils team for several years, we believe the answer would be yes if the deal were the right one. 

Source: