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Maple Leafs: Elliotte Friedman mentions Brad Marchand and Jonathan Marchessault as targets
Félix Forget
Maple Leafs: Elliotte Friedman mentions Brad Marchand and Jonathan Marchessault as targets
Credit: Last night really felt like the end of something for the Maple Leafs. The club, which had managed to force a Game #7 against the Panthers, was completely humiliated in front of its fans. And with Mitch Marner and John Tavares both free agents in the making, it’s hard not to think that big changes […]

Last night really felt like the end of something for the Maple Leafs. The club, which had managed to force a Game #7 against the Panthers, was completely humiliated in front of its fans.

And with Mitch Marner and John Tavares both free agents in the making, it's hard not to think that big changes are in store.

So, inevitably, we wonder what the Leafs will do this summer. If Marner and/or Tavares leave, there will suddenly be a lot of money to spend.

It would therefore be a great opportunity to rebuild the team a little… and, above all, to get some guys with a bit of dog in them. Elliotte Friedman mentioned an interesting name during his 32 Thoughts Podcast: Brad Marchand.

He wonders if the Leafs will push hard to get him.

Friedman thinks that for the Leafs, who are unable to beat Marchand in the playoffs, going after the little pest would make a lot of sense. Marchand was a fan of the club when he was younger, and more importantly, his comments about pressure last night could bring an interesting mentality to that locker room.

The question is, would he be willing to play in a market he just criticized for pressure?

In a similar vein, Kyle Bukauskas raised Sam Bennett's name… but he, too, might be turned off by what he's seen in recent weeks. And that's when Friedman brought up another name: Jonathan Marchessault.

The tipster says he has no information on the subject and no idea of the idea's viability, but Marchessault is also a guy with a dog and has performed en masse in the playoffs in the past, even winning the Conn-Smythe in 2023. The cake didn't rise in Nashville this year, and perhaps at 34, Marchessault would prefer to play for a more competitive team and accept a move to Toronto rather than stay in Nashville.

Will it happen? Good question.

What's clear, though, is that the Leafs want guys with attitude. The club refused to trade Matthew Knies for Mikko Rantanen earlier this season because clearly, the club thinks big for Knies.

You'd think other pieces would have gone the other way, but if they refused to trade Knies and asked Marner if he was willing to waive his no-movement clause, that says a lot about how the two guys are perceived in Toronto (even though, obviously, the two guys' contractual situations are different).

So, we'll see how the Maple Leafs can add some grit to this core… but expect Toronto to be stirring things up in the coming weeks.

Because, yes, yesterday was really the end of something.


Overtime

– Matthew Tkachuk is really hurt.

– Mattias Ekholm nears a comeback.

– He needs to give more.

– Indeed.

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