Trade Pitch Sees Maple Leafs Deal $88 Million Forward to Seattle in Blockbuster

Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares has been the subject of trade rumors this summer and one trade pitch has him being sent to the Seattle Kraken in a blockbuster.

Tavares is entering the final year of his seven-year $88 million deal he signed as a free agent in 2018 to play for his hometown team. As he’s in the final year of his deal, he has been the subject of trade rumors due to Toronto struggling in the playoffs.

Website PuckPedia has a new tool called PuckGM that lets users create their own trades, and one user proposed a deal that sees Tavares get dealt to Seattle in a multi-player deal.

Maple Leafs get:

• Yanni Gourde
• Jaden Schwartz
• 2025 second-round pick

Kraken get:

• John Tavares

On paper, the trade pitch makes sense as Seattle would get a veteran leader to help out their young core for one season, and could possibly re-sign him after the year. However, it would make more sense for the draft pick to be going to Seattle rather than Toronto to even up the deal.

The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, would get Gourde who is a perfect third-line center for Toronto, as he was an effective third-line center for the Tampa Bay Lightning that won back-to-back Stanely Cups.