Without saying specific players what is Marner's trade value/cost/ what are the pieces

I don’t think the Leafs should trade Marner. I just don’t see much potential for a deal that would improve the team.

Marner is one of those players that everybody wants but nobody can afford. Regardless of whether they think he’s overpaid, few teams can take on a cap hit of almost $11M. Even if they’re sending somebody in the $8-9M range the other way, they’re not going to take on that extra cap hit for nothing. Marner would have to be an upgrade for them, which means a downgrade for Toronto. His salary (mostly signing bonuses) over the remainder of his contract is actually significantly less than his cap hit, but that really only matters to teams that don’t want to spend to the cap. For most teams it’s not the money that matters; it’s the cap hit.

Assuming the Leafs want to get a player of comparable ability back for him – there’s no point in dumping him just to free up cap space if they don’t use that cap space to improve the team – the possibilities are limited. I can think of four scenarios that could work, in theory:

1) Another player with a cap hit of $10M or more

Most of these players are over 30 with no-move clauses, many of those with contracts that are likely to outlast their elite level of play. Other than Jack Eichel, the rest are either untouchables (McDavid and Panarin) or already on the Leafs.

2) A big-name restricted free agent whose team is having difficulty signing him

If the player is demanding $10M, his team might see Marner as a safer investment for that price since the younger guys haven’t yet reached his level of consistent year-by-year production. (For the same reason, the Leafs might not be interested in such a deal since their focus is on the present.) Trouble is, the only guys I can think of who might fit this category are both owned by Vancouver, and if they trade one of them for Marner they won’t have cap room to sign the other one. Brady Tkachuk would be next on that list, and Ottawa is one of the few teams that wouldn’t mind Marner’s high cap hit, but I’d want more than Tkachuk for Marner.

3) A player with less term on his contract

Marner has 4 years before he can become an unrestricted free agent. If a team has a similarly skilled player with only 2 or 3 years until unrestricted free agency, that extra term might be appealing and worth taking on some extra cap hit for. However, there’s only a couple of comparable players who fit that description, and those players are a better fit for their current team than Marner would be, so their teams are probably better off keeping them and trying to extend them when the time comes.

4) Part of a package

A 2-for-2 deal might be their best chance of getting good value for Marner. They wouldn’t get a player as good as Marner, but the combination of a downgrade on Marner and an upgrade on somebody else might improve the team if you think that moving away a bit from their top-heavy strategy and going for more balance would lead to playoff success.

More than Eichel 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

I said it.

100% now

At least the equivalent of 4 1sts