Toronto Maple Leafs Reportedly in on Mikko Rantanen, Division Rival Looks to Play Spoiler
Carolina Hurricanes forward Mikko Rantanen is reportedly being shopped at the trade deadline and the Toronto Maple Leafs are one of the interested teams.
Despite being traded from the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes just about a month ago, Mikko Rantanen is already back on the trade market.
The deadline is Friday and with his non-committal approach to contract negotiations with his new team, there is this sense that he could be flipped yet again.
Toronto Maple Leafs pursue Mikko Rantanen
Last night, Elliotte Friedman was on NHL on TNT where he spoke about the Rantanen situation and which teams were potentially interested in acquiring his services.
Surprisingly, the NHL insider revealed that the Toronto Maple Leafs and general manager Brad Treliving are definitely involved in the trade talks.
However, the Leafs should now that they are not the only team pursuing the Carolina Hurricanes star.
In fact, their division rival, the Florida Panthers, are also trying to make a run at Mikko Rantanen.
If the Panthers are successful, it would be absolutely devastating for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Treliving, who haven't done anything at the deadline so far.
Florida has acquired Seth Jones and the Tampa Bay Lightning, another Atlantic Division powerhouse, has acquired Yanni Gourde.
Simply put, the Maple Leafs are falling behind right now and are at risk of falling off of a cliff before the playoffs.
With that being said, Brad Treliving is under the most pressure he's faced since becoming the Maple Leafs general manager.
Acquiring Rantanen, however, would certainly completely change how the fans feel about him.
