Mitch Marner trade: How Maple Leafs can replace void left by star winger

The Core Four is no more in Toronto. Mitch Marner has been dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade, and the Maple Leafs have no time to lose in the hunt for his replacement.

Of course, replacing Marner will be far easier said than done. He scores at a 100-point pace every season, plays reliable defense and makes an impact on every special teams unit. The Leafs won’t find one player who does all that, but they can offset some of the damage done by Marner’s departure.

One of the solutions is already on the roster and will be with the team for the next six years. Matthew Knies has potential to level up, but he can’t quite fill the void alone. Luckily for Toronto, there are some clear solutions on the trade market and in free agency.

A pair of dynamic young forwards in the Western Conference may be on the move prior to the 2025-26 season, and the Maple Leafs would be a terrific landing spot for either one. In free agency, which begins at noon ET on Tuesday, there are a couple more players Toronto should be eyeing.

Let’s take a deeper look at how the Maple Leafs can go about replacing Marner’s production.

Matthew Knies, LW, Maple Leafs

Regardless of what else the Maple Leafs do in their quest to replace Marner’s production, the continued development of Knies is critical. Marner leaves behind a 100-point hole in Toronto’s lineup, so multiple people have to pick up the slack. Knies needs to be one of them.

As a 22-year-old, Knies broke out with 29 goals and 29 assists in 78 games. He is on the upward swing of his career, and there is reason to believe he could hit the 40-goal mark in the coming years. That’s certainly what the Leafs are banking on because they just signed him to a six-year contract worth $7.75 million per season. Can Knies avoid hitting a wall if and when he is asked to take on a bigger role?

Robertson is probably the most intriguing option for the Maple Leafs. The Stars are less than one million dollars under the salary cap with just 10 forwards on the active roster. That math doesn’t work, and it means Robertson and his $7.75 million cap hit might be on the move, especially since he’ll need a new deal next summer.

Over the last three seasons, just 15 players have scored more goals than Robertson’s 110. He’s a force in the offensive zone, and he can beat opposing teams off the rush. Perhaps the biggest selling point is that Robertson has already scored 40 goals twice, and he’s only 25. Players like this are rarely available in the prime of their careers, and if Robertson is on the market, Toronto needs to be ringing Stars GM Jim Nill’s phone off the hook.

The Colorado Avalanche just acquired Necas in the middle of last season, but he enters the last year of his contract, and Joe Sakic is willing to part ways with key players if they’re too far apart in negotiations. If Colorado doesn’t think it can get Necas signed on a deal that may cost nearly $10 million per year, might the skilled winger be on the move again?

If Necas does get dealt, Toronto would be an ideal landing spot. After joining Colorado last year, Necas rode shotgun with Nathan MacKinnon and posted 11 goals and 17 assists in 30 games. On top of that, Colorado was dominant with Necas on the ice at five-on-five. With the Maple Leafs, Necas could slide onto Auston Matthews‘ line, and those two could do some real damage together considering the former’s playmaking and the latter’s shooting ability.

Perhaps one of the more under-utilized forwards in the league, Ehlers is one of the top free agent names on the market. His speed and offensive IQ are off the charts, and that makes him a terrific option for the Maple Leafs after losing Marner.

In each of the last three seasons, Ehlers has endured criminal usage, playing less than 16 minutes per game. Despite that, he managed to top 60 points in each of the last two seasons, producing at a ridiculous rate while on the ice. That kind of skill has to be tantalizing for Toronto, especially with Matthews, Knies and Williams Nylander already in the mix. Ehlers’ production skyrocketing in a Leafs uniform.

While Boeser may not bring the playmaking ability of Marner or the other players above him on this list, he can bring goals. He has scored at a 20-goal pace in each of his full NHL seasons, and he hit 40 in 2023-24. That type of production would help offset some of the damage incurred by Marner’s departure.

Boeser is known to be a streaky player, but he can score goals in bunches when hot. Two seasons ago, he never really cooled down when he notched 40 goals in 81 games. The prospect of putting together Matthews and Boeser, a pair of players with rifles for shots, is pretty exciting. Like many other players in this free agency period, Boeser may wind up getting more than his production is worth, but Toronto needs another top six forward.