Patrick Marleau trade grade: Hurricanes capitalize on Maple Leafs desperation

The Toronto Maple Leafs are clearly desperate for cap space, and the Carolina Hurricanes took advantage of Toronto to get Patrick Marleau for a high price.

After weeks of speculation that Patrick Marleau was on his way out in Toronto, the Maple Leafs have finally made a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes, but the price they had to pay to do so was very steep. The Carolina Hurricanes have acquired Patrick Marleau, a conditional 2020 first round pick, and a 2020 seventh round pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 2020 sixth round pick.

The condition on the 2020 first round pick is if the Maple Leafs pick is top 10 in 2020, the Hurricanes will receive Toronto’s first round pick in 2021 instead, via Capfriendly.

The Hurricanes also plan on buying Patrick Marleau out of his contract, but since Marleau was signed by the Maple Leafs when he was 37, the Hurricanes will get no salary cap relief and will be on the hook for the full $6.25M cap hit. Marleau will become a free agent on July 1st and will likely look to return to the San Jose Sharks.

So with the buyout, the trade is basically a conditional 2020 first and seventh round pick to the Hurricanes in exchange for $6.25M in cap space and a 2020 sixth round pick to Toronto.

Carolina Hurricanes trade grade: A+

There is nothing to dislike about this deal for the Hurricanes, nothing at all. The $6.25M in cap space that they’re giving up in this trade still leaves them with $21,511,667 left in cap space for the rest of the offseason. That should still be more than enough money for them to sign the rest of their pending free agents like Sebastian Aho, and still be able to make moves for players that they want in free agency.

Getting a first round pick without having to give up any players is spectacular regardless, and they don’t even need to keep that first round pick if they don’t want it. They can move that first round pick for more immediate help should they want it in order to make another deep playoff run this season, or they can just hold on to it and just have another first round pick. You cannot go wrong with more picks when you give up nothing at all.

The Hurricanes are definitely far from done in the trade market this offseason, as trade rumors for Justin Faulk have once again surfaced. Hard to imagine that they don’t get a player in return for Faulk if they do in fact trade them, as the likely now see themselves as on the brink of contention after a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Toronto Maple Leafs trade grade: C+

The Maple Leafs did what they needed to do, but the price they had to pay was very steep. However, their hands were tied with the whole situation, and with the Mitch Marner saga getting more and more frustrating by each passing day, they needed to do something. Unfortunately, that meant parting with their first round pick a whole year before the draft and without getting a player that can help them next season.

Now, this is far from a failure of a trade for Toronto, as they were able to hold on to all other valuable assets like Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnnson, who is signing a four-year extension, and clear the cap space that they need in order to sign Mitch Marner. As they are entering a “win-now” mode, giving up what they hope is a late first round pick shouldn’t hurt the team that much down the line. However, the Maple Leafs are running out of prospects in the cupboard and will need to find some steals in the later rounds to make up for two straight years with no first round pick.

So with the trade, the Maple Leafs have $14,040,301 in cap space before the Johnnson extension at $3.25-3.4 AAV, which should be enough for Marner no matter what he wants, but other cap-clearing moves are still going to be made in order to make space for Kapanen and upgrade the defense.