I honestly think the return for Marner would be disappointing. His caphit is high and his stock is low-ish. Cap is king and Leafs would probably need to retain to get a better return. Some of the proposed trades I hear for Marner in this forum would probably get rejected outright by most GM's.
- GalacticStone
The return on most marquee trades are disappointing. I mean these are the non-deadline hockey deals made in the offseason over the past few years:
1) For Karlsson, SJ received Hoffman, Granlund, Rutta and a conditional 1st
2) For DeBrincat, Ott received Kubalik, Sebrango, 4th and a Boston's 1st that was still conditional
3) For Provorov, Phi received a 1st, 2 2nds and Walker (along with a cap dump in Petersen and B-prospect Grans)
4) For Tkachuk and a 4th, Calgary received Huberdeau, Weegar, a conditional 1st and a B-prospect in Schwindt
5) For DeBrincat, Chi received a 1st (7th), a 2nd and a 3rd.
6) For Fiala, Min received Faber and a 1st (19th)
There are teams who would certainly be interested if Marner were available - teams that need a guy who can lead their powerplay, be a playmaker, and the teams are already designed to protect players so they can afford to add in a non-physical playmaker. The $10.9m contract is obviously a consideration, but the offseason is when everyone has the room to make those decisions. Is your team on the verge of a breakout and just not quite over the hump and needs an offensive bump?
It would be a small list, I'm sure, but there would have to be a deal there - but it would take Marner to be interested and accepting.
I think likely he'd still fetch between the Fiala and Tkachuk deals. A 1st and then a decent roster player and a prospect, or an A-prospect.
