no lol

The only trade that could work would be Laine for Marner straight up. Problem is neither team is motivated to make a trade like this.

You're going to continue to imagine till you offer something of real value.

The bluejackets would be, the leafs would not.

Aren't Marner and Gaudreau similar style players?

Trade just doesn't make sense for either team. Toronto downgrades from a truly elite player AND defender in Marner to a guy that can be very hot and cold and doesn't play defense.

Ceulemans is a really nice prospect, but the other pieces aren't quality enough to make up for the difference between Laine and Marner.

On CBJ's side it makes no sense cause the likelihood of Marner resigning is very low, if not 0. And since he has 2 year left rather than 1, there's no way to extend him and erase that concern prior to committing to the trade.

Marner is very clearly the superior player to Laine by a good margin, but Columbus's best case scenario these next 2 years barring some truly incredible breakouts is being a low end playoff team. It's not till 25-26 that you can truly set expectations to compete and by that time Marner is gone. Plus missing out on a hopefully developed Ceulemans at a position of need and whatever Peeke ends up becoming. Trading for a 2 year rental just doesn't make sense for a team committed to a rebuild no matter how good they are.

Marner is probably better offensively, and there's no question he's superior defensively. They are only similar in that they both have slight frames and are gifted offensive players.

I mean aren't they both more distributors then goal scorers?

I suppose, but that doesn't mean they both can't score. There are twice as many assists available as goals on the scoresheet, so it would only make sense that players who are smart with the puck like Gaudreau and Marner earn more assists than goals.