Insider Wonders About Oilers Landing Multiple Maple Leafs in One Deal 

The Edmonton Oilers and Toronto Maple Leafs have been linked quite a bit in trade rumors over the last few months, and now that we’re less than 48 hours away from the March 6 deadline, chatter is starting to get serious.

Edmonton wants to add up front, and Toronto has come to the realization that it needs to sell amid a disappointing lost season. The directions of both teams create an obvious fit for Stan Bowman and Brad Treliving to connect on a trade, and according to one insider, the Oilers could even look to land multiple Maple Leafs forwards in one deal.

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David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period mentioned on a recent episode of The Sheet with Jeff Marek that he could see Edmonton circling back to Toronto with interest in any of Bobby McMann, Scott Laughton, and Nic Roy — with potential to pursue a deal to acquire two of them.

Pagnotta said:

“They’re looking for another forward. Now, it seemed like it was only gonna be a 3C if they were gonna go after a Nic Roy or Scott Laughton out of Toronto or somebody like that — shore up the bottom six and keep Nuge on the left. But it wouldn’t surprise me if they also bring in an affordable guy to play the wing, and that circles back to Toronto with Bobby McMann at $1.35 million, Roy at $3 million, Laughton at $1.5 million. They have two retention slots left in Toronto. Needless to say, if they want to get creative — and financially creative — there might be a couple of players they can make work in one move with Toronto in order to pull that off. But again, what’s the opportunity cost there, and are they willing to pay it? I think they’re focused on that now. I think they’re focused on bringing in at least a forward,”

The 29-year-old McMann and 31-year-old Laughton are both pending UFAs in the final year of their two-year, $2.7 million and five-year, $15 million contracts, respectively. Roy, 29, on the other hand, is in year four of the five-year, $15 million extension he originally signed with the Golden Knights in 2022.

McMann has been the most productive of the three with 32 points (19 goals, 13 assists) through 60 games, while Laughton and Roy have tallied 12 points (eight goals, four assists) and 20 points (five goals, five assists) in 43 and 58 games played, respectively.

To add even more intrigue to the situation, the Maple Leafs recently announced that McMann, Laughton, and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson will all be scratched on Wednesday night in New Jersey for roster management reasons.

The ship has likely sailed on Ekman-Larsson after Edmonton acquired Connor Murphy, but McMann, Laughton, and Roy will absolutely remain names to keep an eye on as the Oilers look to bolster their forward group before Friday’s deadline.

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