Every season has a few “almosts” that stick around. With the Maple Leafs, one of them showed up around the 2025 trade deadline, when Mikko Rantanen suddenly came into play and Mitch Marner’s name got involved in a conversation no one really wanted to have.
Marner had the best season of his career with 102 points. It was the kind of production that doesn’t move you. And yet it was also the most difficult season he has ever had in Toronto. In the last year of his contract there was clarity about his future.
Then suddenly Colorado Marketing rantans. He was a winger with a Stanley Cup ring, and Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving did what any responsible general manager would do: he called the Avs.
It was rumored that a Maple Leafs-Avalanche deal could have happened
The Maple Leafs had reportedly put together a three-team framework, with Rantanen open to expanding in Toronto. The Avalanche wanted Marner in return. All Marner has to do is waive his no-trade clause. He didn’t.
And that’s where the what-if starts to get interesting. Marner was well within his rights. New baby on the way. Life is rooted in Toronto. No obligation to solve the team’s math at the expense of his family. Anyone who does otherwise is not being honest.
What if Rantanen had landed in Toronto and expanded?
Had Rantanen arrived in Toronto, the Maple Leafs would have finally had what they’ve been circling for years: a playoff winger built for long nights. Heavy minutes, lots of contact and the attack never dries up. Sixty-three points in 48 games, more than 20 minutes a night – that’s not theory, that’s evidence. He enjoys the power play, wins puck battles and doesn’t disappear when the games heat up. He’s not subtle. He leans on you.
Now imagine if that version of Rantanen later appeared in the Toronto lineup. Matthews would attract the best defenders. Nylander would fly on the weak side. Rantanen planted himself close to the net and did the unglamorous things that don’t always show up on highlights but absolutely show up in playoff series. Suddenly, the Maple Leafs’ first line wouldn’t just look competent, it would be one of the best lines in the entire NHL.
Would the Maple Leafs have beaten Florida in the second round?
Would it have guaranteed a longer Stanley Cup run last season? Of course not. Hockey never gives out guarantees. But it would have changed the team. Less girth. Less waiting for the perfect game. More inevitability.
After Marner rejected the deal, the Maple Leafs turned around and brought in Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo. Both are doing great with the Maple Leafs. But imagine Rantanen at Blue and White, along with the two candidates who went the other way: Nikita Grebenkin (and a first-round pick in 2027) and Fraser Minten. Both youngsters are said to still be on the team. Both youngsters are said to still be with the team.
No one knows what this season would have looked like
Who knows what last season will look like if Mikko Rantanen wears a Maple Leafs jersey instead of Marner? Maybe they get past Florida, maybe they don’t, but it’s hard to argue the team wouldn’t have been tougher on him. The problem with what-if questions is that they don’t cash in. They just hang around.
And now here the Maple Leafs are, a new season, different problems and a team trying to get into the postseason with fans still wondering what could have happened.
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