When a team slips, the trade machine starts humming, and the Maple Leafs are right there now. One social media proposal has Toronto sending William Nylander and Morgan Rielly to Detroit in exchange for Dylan Larkin and Simon Edvinsson, a deal that says as much about fan frustration as it does about roster-building.
The idea surfaced from the user @nylander4selke, who floated Nylander and Rielly for Larkin and Edvinsson. On paper, it’s the kind of swap that grabs attention fast: Edvinsson is viewed as a defenseman the Maple Leafs have their eye on, while Larkin is a player who wants out of Detroit and has plenty of teams interested.
But the biggest problem with the proposal is also the most obvious one. Larkin does not want to go to a Canadian team. He won’t even accept a trade to a team like the Montreal Canadiens, let alone the Leafs.
That alone makes the whole thing feel like pure fantasy, and the rest of the package doesn’t change that. There’s no real sense that any of the players involved would make this happen, and the fit simply doesn’t line up.
Rielly also brings his own obstacle to the table with a no-trade clause, and he has been incredibly stubborn about the process. Because of that, he probably won’t let John Chayka send him to the Red Wings.
And from Toronto’s side, moving on from Nylander is hard to imagine. He remains too important to the franchise’s success for the Maple Leafs to be in any hurry to deal him.
For now, the proposal stands as another sign of what happens when the Leafs keep struggling: fans start dreaming up wild trades, and this one is as extreme as they come.
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Maple Leafs Suddenly Have An Oliver Ekman-Larsson Decision To Make
Oliver Ekman-Larssons first season with the Maple Leafs has not gone the way anyone in Toronto would have hoped. Through 19 games, he has managed just one assist, and the overall picture has been one of a veteran defenseman looking a step slower than the club expected when it brought him in.
That has left the Maple Leafs with a real roster question as injuries begin to settle down and younger blueliners push for more opportunity. If Toronto decides it needs to open up those minutes, Ekman-Larsson becomes the kind of movable piece that could be on the table, even if the timing and the return remain very much in flux. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Suddenly Have A Shot At An Elite Young Scorer
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Michkov is in the final year of his contract, which only adds to the intrigue around what Philadelphia might do next and how aggressive interested teams can afford to be. For Toronto, the challenge is obvious: any serious pursuit would come at a steep price in assets and money, but the payoff would be landing one of the leagues most gifted young scorers at a time when that kind of upside is hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Maple Leafs Just Reignited The Gavin McKenna Usage Debate
The Maple Leafs stirred up a familiar lineup debate at practice by moving Ryan Tverberg into the top six, where he skated alongside John Tavares and William Nylander. For a team still sorting out its forward mix, the decision stood out because it came with a player who has barely any NHL experience and no points, while the more established offensive options were left to absorb the shuffle elsewhere in the group.
The move inevitably put Gavin McKenna back in the spotlight, especially with the first overall pick sitting on 12 points in 19 games and tied for the rookie scoring lead. Even with that production, his ice time has been anything but steady, and the benchings have only sharpened the question of how Toronto wants to use him. The Leafs clearly see something they like in Tverbergs fit, but the choice also reopens the larger discussion about whether McKenna is being asked to do enough, or simply being held to a different standard. [Read more 🡒]