Elliotte Friedman reveals potential Mitch Marner for Seth Jones trade

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Graham Montgomery
May 7, 2024 (7:40 PM)

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Rumors surrounding Toronto Maple Leafs star winger Mitch Marner have cropped up again after the team's latest first-round loss to the Boston Bruins. Now NHL insider Elliotte Friedman has linked the Leafs winger to the Chicago Blackhawks in a deal that would send veteran defenseman Seth Jones back to Toronto.

The insider made the suggestion on his podcast, 32 Thoughts, this morning. It was more conjecture than anything else, but Friedman has hit the nail on the head with these kinds of comments in the past. He essentially wondered if a Marner for Jones trade would make sense for both the Blackhawks and the Leafs.

"If the Leafs make a Mitch Marner trade, maybe they don't, quote-on-quote, win the trade and get a stud defenseman in return, but I would think a defenseman would be part of that package. Jones has indicated that losing is not very easy on him. If Chicago is going to keep losing, I wonder how Jones feels. I wonder how Jones would feel about [the Leafs] and how [Toronto] would feel about him.»

Fan reaction to the idea is mixed at best. One fan correctly pointed out that the Leafs would not gain much cap room with the move. While the team suddenly would be allocating a lot more cap room to their blueline, which is necessary, overall, the team would likely be getting worse as Marner is simply that much better of a player than Jones.

Friedman throwing out M*rner for Seth Jones is why you should be careful what you wish for. You get worse and you don't get much cap relief.

Other fans think the move could work, highlighting Jones' ability to run a top powerplay. Morgan Rielly currently fills that role, but he's not exactly the best powerplay quarterback in the league. Is Jones an upgrade in that aspect? Its somewhat hard to say, given how bad Chicago has been in recent years.

Seth Jones would probably be a good fit in TO, he's got a hard point shot which is Pp threat and would be easier for a righty to move puck to AM34 on PP.

Heavy minutes, big, little nasty sometimes, has some term, and Chicago might be able to get you a few more smaller pieces

The idea is certainly an intriguing one though. We will just have to see what the Leafs do with Marner in the offseason. It feels like he may very well stay with the team, but at the same time, the Leafs cannot seriously run the same team again next year and expect a different result in the playoffs.

Source: HockeyFeed
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