Why not have the highest paid winger you have 2/3 of the highest paid centers? And you don’t need marner at 11 million but you didn’t need Tavares at 11 million or Matthews at 11m+ either. You guys set a ridiculous standard by overpaying superstars that it’s hard to expect guys like marner to not want what his peers/ equals are making. What’s Reilly going to make in a few years or Anderson? I don’t blame you guys for wanting this trend to stop but your gm folder like a chair with Matthews and nylander. Tavares was a ufa so you are generally going to overpay them. Your points are well received but my point is that you can and based off past contracts should pay him 10.5-11m and just trade nylander who is a lesser player that doesn’t have as big of an impact

What’s taking my p*ss. Seems weird? Whatever makes you happy.

Marner isn't the Leafs best player.. & 1 player can't carry a team the whole way. Even McDavid couldn't. & if player are being stubborn and want a ridiculous amount of money that they aren't worth, you move them for assets to make the team better. Marner was 60 point player until Tavares signed and played with him. So you're justification that "wingers can make players better too" has some logic to it, but that fact puts it to sleep.

Theoretically speaking, if Marner were to sign an offer sheet, the return is massive for Toronto. They could use that money to sign a player like Skinner, say he makes $8M then. There's an extra $3M in cap space to spend on a d-man to improve the team. That also allows the team to have Skinner play with JT still, keep the Matthews, Johnsson and Japanen line together, move Nylander to 3C and allow them to trade Kadri for an upgrade on defence. Plus they still have 4 future 1st round picks which could be lottery picks of the team Marner went to doesn't make playoffs.
So by letting Marner her his offer sheet somewhere else, Toronto could theoretically get:
4 future 1st round picks
A replacement top 6 forward
Upgrade to the defence
$3M in cap space

... as a Leafs fan, I'd take that. Makes the team more of a contender.

lol. Taking the p*ss.. it's a british term, and yeah, they are weird..

The reason to stop this madness now with the Marner contract is that the compensation could be crazy beneficial for the team.. 4 1sts and the cap space.

Willy is a good player, but the biggest benefit of trading him would be cap relief, without much coming back. I think Rye spells it out nicely for what the leafs could put together if it comes to an OS.

Okay let’s my this long story short. How do you justify over paying Matthews nylander and Tavares (ufa easier to justify imo) but not overpaying marner. The kid has done nothing but play hard and produce great numbers. He’s also a Toronto kid why are you punishing him or giving him”fair” pay but overpaying everyone else? Seems unfair. Now I don’t condone the idea that he’s worth 11m but how do you justify paying others more with similar results .....

Haha okay I was confused by it. I would honestly trade him for a lesser cap player. 1st round picks get glorified.... well let’s assume he goes to AZ he’s good enough to make them a 20-31 pick team. Does that pick turn into an nhl ready guy right away? This trade might benefit them later maybe?

Either way if you guys are happy then good but to let a young talent like him walk is crazy to me. Caps overpaid Wilson to stay for a long term and I loved it.

I think this is exactly right. But i'm almost enjoying blowing up the logic behind how Mitch holds all the cards and the leafs need to pay him AM money. They don't. And they won't. I'm almost certain that a reasonable deal gets done.

This Marner =12M narrative should start to die down soon, I think. I hope. If not, 4 1sts is a nice compensation package..

The answer is... you don't have to justify it?

How do you justify isn't the right question at all.

Instead, it's this: Which of the big three RFAs would really be attractive to teams looking to make a big offer sheet push? It's just Matthews and Marner. Matthews is signed. If Marner's offered something crazy -- but apparently something he's looking for, so perhaps he'd sign -- then the question isn't really if he "deserves" the contract but if the team could find a use for the 4 firsts and $11m in cap space such that they exceed the value of an $11m Marner. Ryminister had it exactly right imo: 4 firsts (which can get you depth, be traded for upgrades) + an $8m winger + a good defenseman is > Marner.

Yeah, I think the value of having 7 first round picks over the next four years is really the currency they represent. Dubas could start throwing 1sts out to teams looking to rebuild in trades to address weaknesses, without needing to abandon their own drafting and developing model.

Anyways, I don't think it happens at all. I think Mitch comes in on a deal that works for both sides, probable a bridge. But I won't be happy until this Mitch = 12M and the leafs need to pay him that nonsense goes away.. actually, they more I post on this the more I chuckle about Dreger and his claims.. I guess it is making me happy. thanks, caps in 9

I think Marner lost leverage when he wanted to be lost to sign. Now the Leafs can give him a firm number of what they can do and afford and if he doesn't take it then they take the big return and make the team better in other areas. I don't see how he gets anything more than $10M on a 6 year deal now

The answer is... you don't have to justify it?

How do you justify isn't the right question at all.

Instead, it's this: Which of the big three RFAs would really be attractive to teams looking to make a big offer sheet push? It's just Matthews and Marner. Matthews is signed. If Marner's offered something crazy -- but apparently something he's looking for, so perhaps he'd sign -- then the question isn't really if he "deserves" the contract but if the team could find a use for the 4 firsts and $11m in cap space such that they exceed the value of an $11m Marner. Ryminister had it exactly right imo: 4 firsts (which can get you depth, be traded for upgrades) + an $8m winger + a good defenseman is > Marner.

Hey man I was there a few years ago.
I had:
Carlson at 7m
Oshie at 5m
Wilson at 3.5m
Kuzy at 6.5m

Unfortunately the leafs getting 4 1st picks creates the same issue haha. Only reason you guys are In this situation is bc you drafted so well and developed the players quickly ha

Okay let’s my this long story short. How do you justify over paying Matthews nylander and Tavares (ufa easier to justify imo) but not overpaying marner. The kid has done nothing but play hard and produce great numbers. He’s also a Toronto kid why are you punishing him or giving him”fair” pay but overpaying everyone else? Seems unfair. Now I don’t condone the idea that he’s worth 11m but how do you justify paying others more with similar results .....

Matthews, Tavares and Nylander aren't really overpaid. So nothing else you say makes sense after that. The reason why people think they are is because they didn't follow the trend of signing the full 8 year deals. That's stupid. Leafs went against that and lowered the terms to lower the cap hit to help their cap situation. They'll do the same with Marner. It's smart actually. People just don't tale well to going against trends for some reason

I think that's pretty solid, Rye. I think he might get more on a longer term deal as a sign of good faith, but yeah, this Marner = 12M threat is losing some steam.

That;s a good point.. the one on the nature of the current problem. Which isn't really a problem at all.. it's a good thing!

Hahaha nylander is overpaid AF! Matthews is the 2nd highest paid player in the nhl? And Tavares is the 3rd highest paid player in the nhl. Neither of these two are top 5 centers in the nhl. That’s overpaying. Nylander isn’t overpaid haha dude come on I can’t take you seriously I’m done. Agree to disagree

LOL guess you don't know how contracts work then.

No I understand but I’m not going lie to myself. They overpaid Matthews and nylander bc they had no choice. The worse part is that they got nothing in term either. The only way 11m makes sense is if you get max term they didn’t

Long story short I would offer marner a 10mx 8yr deal both sides would be happy imo. Leafs have done well getting real for the bottom 6 guys and late 1st round picks don’t help you replace a 90 point guy. That’s just my opinion on it. Caps draft late 1st round last 4 picks

Luca jo (not nhl ready)
Samsonov (needs 1 more year in an)
Alexeyev (not nhl ready)
Vrana.....but that was 2014 (took 5 years to become a solid nhler) that’s when mattthews contract is up. Hypothetically speaking of course

Caps in 9. Capitals fan... seemed obvious ha.

Love leaf fans though. Can’t make it out of the first round but you’ll let your best player walk bc you overpaid 2 other players haha I love it

Not really. They got Nylander right at the value that pretty much everyone said he was gonna get, Pastrnak was the main comparable and they got him around that. But to make the player happy they made it so that he was virtually untradeable in the first year by waiting to sign it so it raised the cap hit in year 1 and lowered it in the rest of the years to help the team.. that's pretty smart. Matthews definitely isn't overpaid. It was either what he got for 5 years or $13.8M for 8 years. So to help the cap now, they went with the lower term deal. When you think that he's going to have the type of impact on Toronto that McDavid has on Edmonton it's not an overpayment. It's more of a deal that's paying for his potential, could turn into a steal of a deal. & Tavares? Really? $11M as the best free agent to come along in over a decade isn't a bad deal. He almost scores 50 goals this year. & he turned down a $13M offer from San Jose. That's not an overpayment at all. When you realize how much the cap is going to go up every year and especially with Seattle coming in it'll get a big jump, those contracts are gonna look great in about 2 years. They're not an overpayment at all.

Funny how Caps fans have their team win 1 cup but forget that it took their team 13 years to even make it outta the second round but feel like that gives them reason to be able to chirp everyone else

Ha yeah they lost to teams like the penguins who had 2 generational players on it.... not the bruins... and you guys are in what year 3... haven’t made it out of the 1st round and are already having issues signing one of you 3 best players...

... Caps just lost to Carolina. 0 "generational players" and league average goaltending at best. Looks like Caps are back to their old ways

Haha you’re so salty it’s sad.