The Toronto Maple Leafs reportedly discussed a three-team trade that would have resulted in the team acquiring Mikko Rantanen before the March 7 deadline.

How might the Stanley Cup Playoffs have been different if Mitch Marner was a Vegas Golden Knights and Mikko Rantanen played for Toronto Maple Leafs? That scenario was almost a reality, thanks to a blockbuster trade that never came to fruition.

“There’s real smoke that the Florida Panthers could be gearing up to make a run at Marner. Word is that Toronto has opened the door to a sign-and-trade scenario, where they ink Marner to a max-term extension (eight years) and then flip him to recoup some level of value,” Cam Robinson on Elite Prospects wrote in a recent column.