NHL Rumors: Four hypothetical Mitch Marner Trades, and the Golden Knights Cap Crunch

Four hypothetical Mitch Marner trades

Ryan Dixon of Sportsnet: Four hypothetical Mitch Marner trades.

Columbus Blue Jackets get: RW Mitch Marner
Toronto Maple Leafs get: 2024 fourth-overall pick, C/W Kent Johnson

Seattle Kraken get: RW Mitch Marner
Toronto Maple Leafs get: C Shane Wright, D Adam Larsson

Calgary Flames get: RW Mitch Marner, C Fraser Minten, LW Nick Robertson, D Timothy Liljegren
Toronto Maple Leafs get: G Jacob Markstrom*, D Rasmus Andersson
*Flames retain 25 per cent of Markstrom’s remaining salary

Philadelphia Flyers get: RW Mitch Marner
Toronto Maple Leafs get: C Scott Laughton, D Mario Ferraro, San Jose’s 2024 second-round pick
San Jose Sharks get: D Oliver Bonk

The Vegas Golden Knights face another cap crunch

Jesse Granger of The Athletic: Vegas Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon said last week that there could be some turnover this offseason. They’re once again in a cap crunch. They have six pending UFAs and some key RFAs to make decisions on.

Pending UFAs include Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson, William Carrier, Michael Amadio, Anthony Mantha and Alec Martinez.

Pending RFAs include Pavel Dorofeyev and Kaedan Korczak.

The Golden Knights have $80.1 million committed to 18 players (9 F, 7 D, and 2 G) which doesn’t include Robin Lehner and his $5 million that will be going on the LTIR again. They have about $7.6 million in projected space for three forwards.

GM McCrimmon on Marchessault: “There’s certainly a strong willingness from both sides to have real good discussions. That’s what we’re going to work on.”

Mantha is unlikely to be back as he didn’t really fit after being acquired at the deadline. Stephenson likely won’t be back given his price and their ability to fill his spot. Losing Martinez leadership and personality won’t be easy to replace but he’s unlikely to be back.

The future of Carrier and Amadio may depend on what happens with the contracts of Marchessault and Dorofeyev.

Defenseman Zach Whitecloud has four years left on his contract at $2.75 million and could be a trade candidate.

Defenseman Shea Theodore has a year left on his contract at $5.2 million and they may not be able to afford him beyond this season. Theodore and Noah Hanifin are similar players. If McCrimmon doesn’t think he can extend Theodore, he could look to move him. Moving Theodore would create cap space and land them some nice assets.