No from the Leafs. Ik Marner gets his hate for his cap but when he’s on his game he’s a top 15 player in the league. Plus we would be back to where we started as we need to resign Forsberg

Forsberg would somehow milk 9Mill out of dubas

gonna need a lot more than that to get Marner

no, the narrative is that Dubas overpays RFA's. If you wanna crack an over paying joke, it's Lou that over pays those guys, or Bergavin, or Chiarelli or Holland etc etc etc

Lou loves the over 40 crowd for some reason

Now, I don't mind the trade. But foolish to think it comes with an extension. So really the Leafs would be looking at 11m in cap space next year without Marner. For that reason, I don't Nashville does that trade. They would be much better off, trading Forsberg for assets and then having cap space going into next summer.
Don't know you think you get rid of Holl and Dermot and their 3.5m cap space,(especially with no cap returned) and have a better defence.

Understood. Do you get the spirit of my question though? After a few games does the Leafs need an elite forward or significant help on defence. I can't see there being a chance to do both with the salary cap.

Well if they need an elite forward then swapping one for an older one doesnt help, especially an older one whose new contact will, in all likelihood, be worse value than marners.
There would need to be significant value added by nashville even with the guarantee of resigning

I could have chosen any team but picked Nashville out of convenience. They have a chance of losing an offensive 27 year old UFA forward but could gain an elite forward with term. If the Leafs took the $4 MIL in savings and invested it in the defence I believe they would be a contender and a 27 year old UFA would most likely consider staying on an extension...whether it was Forsberg or some other player.

Just watching the last few games and seeing Nylander, Bunting, Kase, etc stepping it up but then the Leaf's defence looking overwhelmed I don't think it will be the forwards or goalies causing a problem if we face Tampa Bay, Florida or Boston in the 1st Round. It will be the defence.

I guess the other question is "Who is this unicorn defence man that they Leafs should target no matter the cost"?

Pairing a good/great two way elite playmaker with a good/great two way goal scoring beast for the next decade seems like a good idea to me.

There's other ways to find a Holl upgrade.

Both teams decline. The value isn't there for TOR, if they're trading Marner for an impending UFA (Forsberg isn't going to sign an extension with a new team for a paltry $6-7M). If NSH moves on from Forsberg, Marner isn't the right type of player for them.

Even in a blockbuster type trade like this, I can't see NSH including Jeannot either. If you haven't watched him play, he's not just "a good depth forward". He's budding into a Tom Wilson type - but meaner and cleaner - and that's a rare commodity around the league.

I am fascinated with Jeannot. He’s an undrafted player that Nashville picked up for nothing and nobody else saw potential in. I don’t think his ceiling is as high as a Tom Wilson but I agree with your assessment of him as a player.

He's been a gem for NSH alright. He's really changed NSH's identity since he made the team mid-season last year, and he really disrupts the opposition. It's hard to predict what his ceiling is, as his game is still growing and evolving. As impressive as his physical play has been, it's his passing that's wowed me the most. It's not just his smooth hands, but how well he sees the ice and reads the play. Definitely a unique player.

What's funny about the Wilson comparisons is that Jeannot was a training camp invitee with WSH a few seasons ago (MIN too before that, I think). Their loss, NSH's gain.

I think Marner as a winger all round game is as good as any in the league. 4th in league scoring last year - more ice time then any other forward in the league the past 2 years. Probably will play on the topline in the Olympics all at the age of 24. Willie will be moved long before Marner goes anywhere. Let's get something straight here Tavares was the bad signing not Marner or Matthews.

Wow, I didn't realize that he had been on the radar's of Washington and Minnesota. I don't think Dubas would even consider a player like Jeannot. I also don't think Jeannot would have had a chance to mature in the atmosphere of the Toronto media and short sighted expectations of most of the Leaf fan base.

I lament the Tavares signing simply on the merit that the Leafs had Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Connor Brown, Kapanen, etc. all on the verge of needing contracts but had not proven anything in championships and Kadri only making $4.5 MIL.

People use San Jose as the rumour that they were offering Tavares $13 MIL so the Leafs did FANTASTIC getting him for only $11 MIL. That is such flawed logic that it is absurd. That's like trying to convince your wife you got a good deal for a used lawnmower @ $450 because another neighbour had actually offered $650.

Does any championship team in the NHL pay contracts like San Jose? Of course not but Toronto let a team set the price who also are paying OUTRAGEOUS contracts to E Karlsson, Burns, Vlasic, Martin Jones and even the troubled Kane. Leafs were then comparing contracts for players coming off their ELCs to Buffalo's pathetic contract amounts given out to mediocre players and Peter Chiarelli's tenure at Edmonton as the guideline for Leaf contracts. 3 of the worst managed teams instead of contract amounts of contenders at the time like Tampa Bay, Boston, etc.

Tavares getting $11 MIL set the bar for all the Leaf future players for this WHOLE era. Based on the fact that no team since the salary cap era has ever won 1 round in the playoffs with even only a single player making $10 MIL or more should say something. The Leafs have 3.

I guess I would have no hope for the Leafs to ever win the Stanley Cup in this era as this is the NHL not the NBA and one player like Matthews can carry a franchise to a 4 rounds of Best of Seven playoff championship. You need depth.

Next season will be worse with the Core 5 taking $48 MIL of the $82.5 cap limit. Add in Muzzin and Brodie's $10.6 MIL and you will have to sign Campbell to $5.5 MIL or less, Sandin to $1.5 or less, Liljegren to $1,0 MIL or less, Kase to "Kampf money' of $1.5 MIL or less having the other 5 forwards to $1 MIL or less AND still trade Mrazek, Ritchie and possibly Engvall.

I think having the Core 4 means never having a competitive defence corp or an elite goaltender who commands $7 + MIL. We have shown we have forwards capable of managing each time one of the Core 4 or injured but the defence is struggling pretty consistently over the years.

How has the defence struggled the last couple of years? They've had some of the best goals against numbers in the league.

You are putting too much emphasis on dmen, and not enough on team structure. When the Leafs are playing well, they limit zone entries, slot passes and quality chances. They do this as a 5 man unit.

$7m+ goalies are quickly becoming obsolete anyways. For every Vasilesky that earns their salary, there's 10 that way overpaid.

Draft and develop Sandin and Liljegren types that are solid puck movers, and transition that puck up to your skilled forwards. It's the blue print of the team, and unless they fall flat on their face again in the playoffs, it's how they'll be built for the foreseeable future.

Why wouldn't Dubas consider Jeannot?

The Toronto media and fanbase has no bearing on a prospects development. Gauthier, Moore, Holl, etc all acquired in different ways, all looked like surefire misses (no chance to make NHL) all brought along with patience, and made the show.

Thanks for walking me away from the cliff... I appreciate it.

I guess I have seen Dubas pursue 5'7" - 5'9" skilled, cerebral players (literally) for so many years I can't see him developing a bigger, hardworking player with size and toughness if Dubas had the chance. Maybe I'm biased in my perspective.

He's literally signed or acquired more toughness in the last 3/4 years then any other GM.

Muzzin, Simmonds, Clifford x2, Gabriel, Foligno the list goes on. I'm pretty sure Dubas' rep of of only liking small and skilled is longggggg dead.