With Craig Berube hired, the Leafs need to focus on a Mitch Marner trade

One task down, plenty more to go for Brad Treliving and company with the month of June just around the corner.

Now that the Maple Leafs have Sheldon Keefe’s successor in place, it’s time for them to start laying the groundwork on what would end being the biggest move of their offseason: A Mitch Marner trade.

Believe it or not, the 2024 NHL Entry Draft is now just 38 short days away. If Toronto’s going to execute a blockbuster deal involving one of their marquee talents, it very well could come around June 28^th.

Honestly, it’s not too outlandish to suggest that this potentially franchise-altering deal could down at the Sphere in Las Vegas —a scenario Gary Bettman and the NHL sure would love.

Any way you slice it, some tough conversations will need to be had in the next couple of weeks. Most importantly, the Leafs need to get an indication from the Marner camp – one way or another – if they would be open to the possibility of going elsewhere. If and when they get that blessing, that’s when the real work would begin. That’s because almost awkwardly, the two sides would have to work in unison to find a resolution that would make both parties happy. Of course, Marner has a full no movement clause, so indisputably, it would help immensely if he submitted a list of teams that he would go to. If Marner doesn’t want to play ball, the organization would be in a tough spot and would have to alter their gameplan quickly. For what it’s worth, according to several different reports, it sounds like he would at least entertain a conversation with management about everything.

At this point, no one really knows what the Marner camp is thinking. That said, the offseason is less than three weeks old, and it doesn’t seem like this story is going away anytime soon. Even with Craig Berube now behind the bench, it would make minimal sense for the Leafs to run it back with the same cast of characters. It hasn’t worked, it won’t work. Plain and simple. Marner is the odd man out.

Needless to say, the process could get ugly, but without question, it’s a direction the organization needs to go if they want to improve. Marner’s an incredible player, but at the end of the day, you need to make tough decisions.