NHL Trade Rumors: Elliotte Friedman links $55,500,000 superstar with Maple Leafs to end Toronto's Stanley Cup drought

The Toronto Maple Leafs will likely be active ahead of the March 7 trade deadline. While the Maple Leafs don’t have many positional holes at the moment, GM Brad Treliving will continue adding pieces to help the club end its Stanley Cup drought dating back to 1967.

According to insider Elliotte Friedman, one of the pieces the Toronto Maple Leafs may look into is the Carolina Hurricanes’ Mikko Rantanen.

Rantanen, who Carolina acquired from the Colorado Avalanche earlier this season, could be on the move again if the Hurricanes feel they may not be able to sign him to a long-term extension. Thus, Friedman believes the Maple Leafs will, at least, kick the tires on Rantanen to see what the piece could be.

Here’s what Friedman told Kyle Bukauskas on Monday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast:

“If it becomes a thing, it’s just [Brad]Treliving’s way that he would poke into Rantanen. Now, obviously, it could never be a long-term thing unless their cap situation completely changed. Like, a billion percent changed. But I find it very hard to believe that if Rantanen got out there, Toronto wouldn’t at least see what it took to do it.”

As Friedman pointed out, the biggest challenge facing the Maple Leafs would be Rantanen’s cap hit. Rantanen signed a six-year, $55.5 million deal with the Avalanche in 2019. But after this year’s trade to Carolina, the Chicago Blackhawks retained 50% of Rantanen’s cap hit.

As such, that retention would make the deal possible for the Leafs. But as Friedman pointed out, keeping Rantanen long-term would be quite challenging as Rantanen will likely command a deal in excess of $13 million this offseason.

Toronto Maple Leafs calling on teams ahead of trade deadline

A report by the Fourth Period highlighted the Leafs’ interest in various forwards ahead of this year’s trade deadline. In the report, the Leafs are rumored to be looking at St. Louis Blues captain Brayden Schenn. But as the report notes, the Blues aren’t compelled to move Schenn.

Also, the Fourth Period named Philadelphia Flyers forward Scott Laughton as a player of interest for the Maple Leafs. The Flyers, however, are said to be asking for a first-round pick plus prospects in exchange for Laughton.

Additionally, teams are said to be interested in Leafs’ prospects Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan. Both prospects are believed to have high ceilings, with Minten cracking the Leafs’ lineup this season. While Minten isn’t quite ready for prime time, he’s shown to have a significant upside.

As for Cowan, he’s wrapping up his final year in the OHL and looks like he could be a top-six winger when he finally makes it to the NHL. Thus, the Leafs may have to part with one or both of Minten and Cowan to get the high-profile forward they seek.