NHL trade rumors: Insider speculates $77 million Toronto Maple Leafs star a realistic target for Utah 

NHL insider Jeff Marek mentioned a surprising team as a potential trade destination for Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares. Tavares is entering the final year of his contract and has been the subject of trade rumors.

Tavares has a full no-movement clause and it has been reported he wants to play the final year of his deal in Toronto. However, Marek believes Utah could be a logical trade destination for Tavares if he does decide to waive his NMC. Marek said:

"I had a conversation with someone who wondered about a team like Utah and here's why.

"Utah has a lot of young players, Logan Cooley is an obvious one, Utah is most likely in the business for veteran players on short-term deals and the theory is... that they could offer Tavares a pretty healthy number on a two-year contract as a why to entice him to waive a no-trade, would that make sense to you?"

It is interesting as Utah does have plenty of cap space to make Tavares' contract work, as he's in the final year of his seven-year, $77 million deal that he signed with the Maple Leafs in 2018.

Last season, Tavares recorded 29 goals and 36 assists for 65 points. In the playoffs, he added one goal and one assist for two points.

John Tavares wants to remain with Maple Leafs

John Tavares is the Maple Leafs captain and was born and raised in Toronto. Given that he is playing for his hometown team, Tavares says he wants to play out the final year of his contract.

"I love playing here. It's a remarkable place to play," Tavares said, via Sportsnet. "And when I committed here six years ago, obviously I saw a tremendous amount of talent and an amazing hockey market and organization that's fully committed to winning and doing whatever it can — and I still feel that way.

"Whether it's (facing) defensive teams, physical teams, whatever's required, I think we've certainly shown a lot of growth in those areas. Obviously, we still got to overcome some of the hurdles to get the job done — and that's on us and on myself. But I think we're right there."

Given that Tavares has a full no-movement clause, he has total control over the situation as he can block any trade.