NASH isn't getting Marner without Saros. And TO are not retaining money.
I like this idea better than getting Saros though TBH. He would just be another cap problem for the Leafs.
Sissions is a defensive nightmare. The Leafs don't want more of those.
Take him out and add Cole Smith instead.
And take out the retention on Marner. Then its a deal.

I will be really surprised if he waives

It totally depends on how the team treats him. He will waive for sure if the Leafs are willing to play hard ball with him. If they aren't. He probably wont. Its all up to them. The question they need to ask is, is it worth wasting another year of Matthews contract to be nice. Because the Leafs wont get better without moving him or JT or Rielly. And they are probably better off keeping JT for the chance at a future sweetheart contract. Between Marner and Rielly, Marner is the easier trade to make and bring the bigger return. If you are going to waste the year anyways, then sit him in the press box. See how long he holds out. Either way, its a wasted season. I bet he cracks under the pressure first. While dollars drip off his next long term deal.

Dunno man, that didn't work with the Muskoka 5 and it is not the right way to do business if you ever want to attract players in the future. It's hard enough for Canadian teams to get free agents.

depends on how you look at it. To me, it shows the rest of the players in the league the team is serious about winning. The Leafs have been caving in to player demands for too long. If they dont start putting their foot down for the sake of winning, nobody will ever take them seriously. And they will just keep using them as a bank. Look what we are hearing about Domi now. He is asking for between 5 and 6? Thats solely because he took a 1 year deal in TO to get his name out there in the league. Every player who comes here thinks that just wearing the jersey means they are all of a sudden superstars and deserve more. Thats gotta stop. I think if they want to attract the right players. Ones who are serious about winning. They need to make smart contract decisions. And if it means a bunch of pre madonna's walk to FA. Then so be it.

Domi took a hometown discount to play for a team that his dad played for. The Domi name is huge in Toronto. He gave them a discount for a year, but does not feel like he needs to give it to them long term. He could have made 4-5M on a multi year deal elsewhere last year.. For the most part, he played third and fourth line minutes through the year. But, he showed his worth in the playoffs when called upon to play on the top line with Matthews (due to injuries).

Who knows, maybe they will find another free agent or two that will sign for a year at below their going rate (just to play in Toronto). But, everyone knows that if they want to play there, they might get paid until Marner and Tavares come off the books (or get signed to a much lower cap hit long term)

Is there evidence to support that? What other players who play on teams of the Leafs caliper, play on lines with guys like Matthews, Marner, JT and Nylander all year, and only score 9 goals for the season, are making 5m dollars? He did not play 3rd and 4th line mins. He played top 6 mins most of the season. Many of which were with Matthews as his center.
Do you have any evidence that anyone offered him 4-5m on a multi year deal last year?
I would suggest that if he were to start negotiations today with any American city team, on a 4+ year contract, that his number would come in under 4 still. In fact, if Im TO, I'm going in to that negotiation with the suggestion he did not earn his 3m last year. Thats the kind of attitude TO needs to start taking in order to combat the huge disadvantage the team is at with regards to the tax margins.
If Im TO, i would let him know we are interested, but let him listen to offers. Then I would see if we can beat the highest offer by spreading the total dollars out over 8 years. If someone offers him 4x4, thats 16m ending at 34 years old. He will be worthless by then. Id offer him 2.5 x 8. Thats 20m. Keeps him in TO to end his career. Gets 4m more dollars total. And after Matthews contract ends in 4 years, the Leafs will likely be in rebuild anyways. So who cares if you are carrying a 36 or 37 year old Domi at that point. Makes no difference. Id do the same with Bert. Low cap hits. Long time.

If I was the player/agent, if the team did not want to offer a contract from the start, why would I give them a chance to spread things out over more years? If I can get my $16M in 4 years, I still have the chance to sign another contract after that for a couple million per year. Or, he bets on himself again, signs another short contract for say $5M and wait for the cap to keep going up. To sign long term for only $2.5M would tell me that I would not be worth the same as even Reeves.
In other words, the Leafs will only have guys making $2- $3M / year as restricted free agents. As soon as they are done with their contracts, they will look elsewhere. Think of Hyman. The Leafs figured that he was not worth the $5M cap hit per year and let him walk. They will find the same when someone like Knies comes up. He has shown that he can play. He will look at comparables around the league and ask for at least $4.5 (at his current rise in play). Can the Leafs pay that? Or, is that another guy you lose?

Thats why the league has RFAs vs UFAs. So guys cant force huge numbers. Gives teams who draft players the ability to have them at reasonable numbers for reasonable amounts of time. You think Domi, at 9 goals in a season, in his prime at 29, playing with Matthews as his center, is going to be worth MORE at 34? lol He can go ahead and sign his 4x4 for 16 ending at 34. IF he is even able to play anymore at that age. You think he will be able to make up the other 4m that my contract offer gives him before he is forced to retire because his body gives out or he is no longer a viable player? lol More likely he will be worth 750000 scoring 2 goals a year on someone's 4th line at 34. Struggling to find a find a team who is willing to offer him 1 year deals at a time. Wondering how he could be so stupid as to turn down the Leafs offer.
Same as Bert. Sure, maybe some desperate bottom feeder comes along and offers him 6x4 for 24m. And he will be 34 when it ends. Desperately trying to get one year deals from teams. Moving from city to city every year. Trying to convince teams he is worth 1m a year. Or he could stay on a contender. Be a fan favorite for signing a team friendly deal. End his career in TO. Maybe win a cup. And take a 4.5mx8 deal. Make 32m in 8 years. Instead of 24m in 4. And try to scrounge for work trying to find a way to make up that last 8m with a broken down body in Columbus or some other nothing team nobody cares about lol

I guess we will see what the number is that Domi signs at. The Leafs have a habit of either over paying someone because they are a fan favourite or letting go of someone because they don't fit in the budget.

Whenever anyone goes into negotiations, they always ask for more than what they were paid the year before. Is $6M enough of a raise for Bert? I am going to guess it might be closer to $7M if he signs for 4 years.

All of this is going to be dependent on whether they got rid themselves of some salary with some moves. The Leafs only have $19M to resign these two, a 1B goalie to play along side Woll, and 5 others. Not much left to make a splash in the UFA market.

Hence the Marner trade talks.
Bert scored 30 goals, and then took a 1 year deal for 5.5m
Now he has a season where he only scores 21 goals playing with Matthews, and you think he will want want to jump from 5.5 to 7? For being a worse player? lol Seems like a stretch to me.

Being a UFA, he has the option to go anywhere he wants. Do you not think that there is not other team that is willing to give Bert that $6-$7M per year for at least 3 years? Sure, he enjoyed playing with the Leafs and is willing to listen. But, I would not expect a home town discount from a player that played one year in Toronto. To accept a million or two per year is a lot to give up. Especially, if he signs with a tax friendly team.

July 1st will be interesting. It will be up to the Leafs to decide whether or not to let Bert (and Domi) get there without signing them first.

You havent explained why its a discount though is the point. Who are the other 21g fwds signing 7m deals right now? Its not a discount. 5-6m is fair price for that. Both Hyman and Bunting both got right around 5 for playing the exact same role Bert is playing, and they went to the open market.

When you sign a player, you are not signing him to a multi-year contract and pay him for his last season. You are paying for what is expected his production to be during that duration.

For example, Hyman was offered the contract by the Oilers because they saw him as a player worth $5.5M/yr for an extended contract. At the time, the Leafs liked Hyman, but did not see him worth that based on his current production. The Oilers could see what the Leafs couldn't and had the perfect slot for him next to McDavid. With the cap going up, with Tavares coming off the books next year (or at the very least resigned at a lower avg), Bert will see an opportunity to ask for more. That is why I can see him asking for $6.5 to $7M per season for at least 4 years.

What are you taking about? You absolutely get paid for past production. They literally just look around the league at all the guys who provide the same thing you do, then you come to an agreement around that dollar amount. Hyman got paid what he got paid, because that was the going rate for a 20-25 G winger. Its thats simple. And thats all Bertuzzi is.