Penguins Veteran Could Be the Answer to Toronto's Marner Dilemma

One of the biggest storylines of the offseason in Toronto has been Mitch Marner's departure to the Vegas Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade.

Now under contract with the Golden Knights for the next eight seasons, Marner's time in Toronto ended as many would've thought: it was ugly.

During his time in Toronto, Marner gave all he could to the city and the fans, who took it for granted and treated him poorly every time he made a small mistake on the ice.

The team had to find a replacement for their star forward. While GM Brad Treliving did make interesting additions to replace him, such as Matias Maccelli, Dakota Joshua, Michael Pezzetta, and Nicolas Roy, not everyone in Toronto is sold on that new lineup.

Marner brought something special to Toronto and his departure could be felt in the Leafs locker room during the season.

A new report suggested who the Leafs should target to make sure they don't miss firepower as they look to return to the playoffs for a 10th consecutive run.

The Penguins are one of those teams who could end up selling their assets early in the season if they don't have a good start.

Sidney Crosby has been getting most of the attention, but other star forwards will hit the market if Dubas decides to make the move, such as Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell.

There's a chance to see Dubas wait until the trade deadline to move his assets, but the odds of seeing Rust being traded are high.

He has three years left on his $5.13M AAV contract, with his full no-movement clause expiring earlier this summer.

Many teams will show interest, but the Leafs could be in a great position to make it happen.

According to Heavy.com, the Leafs could get Rust for a package involving Nick Robertson.

Here are the full details:

The 33-year-old veteran had the best season of his career last year, with a 65-point tally, which included 31 goals.

On the Leafs' top six, he could make some real damage on the ice, especially alongside top talents like William Nylander, Auston Matthews, or John Tavares.