NHL Insider Confirms Maple Leafs Would ''Move a Mountain'' to Bring Elite Winger to Toronto
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Photo credit: James Guillory - Imagn Images
According to a trusted NHL Insider, the Toronto Maple Leafs would spare no expense to bring superstar forward Mikko Rantanen to Toronto if he becomes a UFA.
When the Carolina Hurricanes made a massive blockbuster splash to acquire Mikko Rantanen from the Colorado Avalanche, many people were quick to point out that there was a lot of risk involved with the Finnish star playing on an expiring contract and wanting a massive extension.
There is doubt creeping in that Carolina will not be able to extend him and could potentially look to flip him ahead of the trade deadline if talks didn't progress.
If the Hurricanes keep things as is and enter the playoffs without an extension in place, they could lose his services to a more prominent team like Toronto or New York, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.
Friedman touched on this topic this week and mentioned that both the Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers will do almost everything possible to get their hands on Rantanen should he enter free agency this summer.
"Teams will make room for this guy. If they have a feeling that he's going to come to them, the New York Rangers, Toronto, it won't just be the teams with a lot of cap room. It'll be teams (saying), like, 'Okay, if I have to move a mountain to get Mikko Rantanen, we're going to try to do it."
For the Maple Leafs that almost assuredly means that they would be moving on from franchise cornerstone Mitch Marner to be able to sign Rantanen to the contract that he is looking for. However, based on his track record, the franchise altering move could work in their favour.
Former player turned analyst, Paul Bissonnette chimed in as well, believing that it would be best for the team to move on from Marner in exchange for Rantanen should Marner struggle in the post-season again.
"Let's say playoffs didn't go that positive for the Toronto Maple Leafs," Bissonnette said on Spittin' Chiclets.
"And maybe you get a similar type of performance out of Marner that you saw last year where we can get into the age-old argument, like he wasn't a liability, per se. But, he definitely wasn't regular-season Mitch.
So if they were to move on from Mitch Marner and not re-sign him, I would definitely go after Rantanen. I would overpay him to do so."
"And maybe you get a similar type of performance out of Marner that you saw last year where we can get into the age-old argument, like he wasn't a liability, per se. But, he definitely wasn't regular-season Mitch.
So if they were to move on from Mitch Marner and not re-sign him, I would definitely go after Rantanen. I would overpay him to do so."
There are quite a few hurdles to jump over to get into this position, which starts with Carolina and whether or not they can extend Rantanen.
It becomes a moot point if he remains in Raleigh. However, things will completely change if he becomes available and look for Toronto to be right in the thick of things as they look to make a big splash.
Rantanen has shown that he can produce when the lights are the brightest, so if Marner shows again this postseason that he just can't hack it, adding Rantanen would be one heck of a consolation prize if Marner walks as a UFA on July 1st.
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