Insider Leaks Failed Toronto Maple Leafs Trade Offer for Mikko Rantanen

Mikko Rantanen was traded from the Carolina Hurricanes to the Dallas Stars today and quite frankly, the former did not get much back in return.

In fact, according to Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet, the Toronto Maple Leafs had a much better deal on the table, but the Hurricanes refused on the basis of being in the same conference.

As he explained on his show, The Real Kyper and Bourne, the Maple Leafs were willing to give up Easton Cowan, Fraser Minten, and two first-round picks.

The Toronto Maple Leafs ended up trading away these draft picks anyway as the 2027 pick went to the Philadelphia Flyers for Scott Laughton.

Subsequently, the 2026 pick went to the Boston Bruins who gave up Brandon Carlo, a shutdown defenseman. Fraser Minten was also a victim of this Bruins trade.

Through it all, the Leafs were able to hang on to Cowan who is going to be a huge part of their future going forward and may even make the roster next season.

Although he did catch some heat at the World Juniors, he is someone who has a ton of offensive talent and definitely deserves to play at the NHL level someday.

He was likely going to pan out better than Minten, although Minten did get some NHL minutes this year.

Whatever the case may be, missing out on Rantanen sucks. But the Maple Leafs did get better before the playoffs and that is all fans wanted to see.

Only time will tell whether or not this actually materializes into some playoff success.