with Nylander

To your credit, I think Austin Matthews is overpaid by $500K to $1M here. That said, the issue here remains the defense in 19/20 it's still not good and then cap problems after 19/20 are going to be a problem. It's a good illustration though why Nylander may be on the block.

how on earth is Marner worth anywhere near that cap hit if Nylander is only worth 6.5?

Good Matthews contract, add the 8th year tho.
Nylander probs takes only 5 or 6 years with that hit, which I also like.
That is far too much for Oz. He gets like 2@1.5 or something like that as a max.
Touch too much for Sparks, but not awful.
Too much for Kappy, try 2@2.5 or something, 3aav is his max, with whatever bridge term he gets for that (2-3 years)

I definitely see Marner at $8.5m to $9M but also see Nylander at $7M then and Matthews at $10M or $10.5M. Either way TOR is at $26M to $27M for those 3 players.

The rest I agree with what you are saying.

The dirty little secret in Toronto is that Nylander is as good (or almost, hard to gauge this year with him not playing) as Marner. Nylander is actually better at 5 v 5.
So I ask again. If Nylander is worth 6.5 (which he is on a 6-7 year deal), then how on earth is Marner worth anywhere above 8, even with inflation?

I'm not sure I agree with Nylander being as good as Marner. Marner is a better player hands down with stats and certainly a better scorer with better accuracy and more dynamic overall plus he's a year younger. I don't think the two are far off and agree with you though and Nylander playing in the middle is a premium alone. I think you are right though, they should be pretty darn close and even my suggestion at $8.5m and nylander at $7 is not close enough. Maybe Marner at $8 and Nylander at $7?