Anaheim Ducks Want to Pursue Maple Leafs Star Forward if Exit Becomes Reality, per Elliotte Friedman

With over $30 million of salary cap space this summer, the Anaheim Ducks are a team clearly ready to make a splash, and after trading for Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba in the past 12 months, this is a team that could be a genuine playoff threat in the Western Conference with some good moves.

Already this off-season, there's speculation that they could make Mitch Marner the highest paid player in the NHL by annual salary, and if that happens, they'll have one of the most intriguing forward groups in the league.

Now, Elliotte Friedman has revealed they could be looking to target Marner's former teammate John Tavares, and while the expectation right now is that he can work something out to return to his home town, if he can't, the Ducks are ready to make a splash.

This is a Ducks forward group that already has Kreider, Troy Terry, Mason McTavish, Leo Carlsson, Frank Vatrano, Trevor Zegras and Cutter Gauthier, and if they could somehow add both Marner and Tavares, they'd be a team that has to be taken seriously.

If Tavares does depart Toronto however, there's likely to be many teams around the league interested in landing him, but if his relationship with Marner is as good as it appears, the two could pull off a shock double signing in Anaheim.

Ultimately, all signs right now point to Brad Treliving getting a deal done with Tavares, but if the Maple Leafs don't want to pay up to keep their former captain in Toronto, don't be shocked to see the Ducks offer him the most money in free agency.