That trade would be so awful for Toronto.

It could be! If Karlsson falls off or gets hurt again. But he is still very very good. That got lost in the misery that was Pitt last season.

It would help Toronto and Pittsburgh imo. I doubt either team even considers it though. Personally I think Marner is a poisoned player; a spoilt rich kid who gets tatoos to look tough rather than being tough. Karlsson's contract is bad but if they play an offensive system with smart two-way forwards then it'll be just fine. A player like Josh Doan & Dylan Guenther will help Toronto all around too.

I actually started convulsing when I saw that 3rd line

Lots of cap space to mess around with it in season!

He was better defensively than most give him credit for. He also wasn't nearly as offensively productive as hoped. Definitely not worth his cap hit, but the trade itself was probably still good for Pittsburgh to unload so many bad contracts. Letang was arguably better despite being older and much cheaper. If Karlsson wants to compete TOR is an option. Not sure Marner would have interest in PIT.

Yeah, but the Leafs don't have a whole lot of futures to make trades.