It seems the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New York Islanders are ripe for a change after terrible seasons in which they failed to advance past the first round once more and failed to even make the playoffs. However, a blockbuster trade appears to be feasible at this time.
Since the Leafs lost to the Boston Bruins, Mitch Marner's name has been thrown out like a soiled Kleenex, but this summer, a lesser-known player like Calle Jarnkrok might be the odd man out. It would be reasonable to assume that Andes Lee, Adam Pelech, Jean-Gabriel Pageau, and Ryan Pulock—if not all of them—might be sporting new sweaters when training camp rolls around in the early fall on the island.
When you're talking about the New York Islanders, consider that Lou Lamoriello runs the show as President of hockey operations for the franchise and with his history and connection to the Maple Leafs, there may be bad blood there or as an eighty-one-year-old hockey lifer, it's possible that he's moved past it and it could be business as usual.
In actuality, both teams have underperformed even though, at least theoretically and on paper, they appear to have the right player talent in place. It might be argued that the Islanders could use a different look and that Toronto needs to move one of its core four players in order to advance; however, this will only occur if both teams believe it makes sense both now and in the future.
