Porter Stoutheart
Ineptly Tanking
- Jun 14, 2017
- 14,906
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And I'm saying, I doubt he maximizes his earnings here. There is a slight tax advantage, yes, but the Leafs will give him more money per year than we would, and over 8 years instead of 7, and he'd probably have many times larger endorsements income there. So if he's money-driven, he will stay in Toronto. That's where he will make the most money.That's not quite what I meant. What I meant was Marner is a money-driven player and will look to maximize his earnings on his next deal. Tennessee is a state with no-state income tax so that automatically makes it appealing for Marner. Especially when you compare the earnings for a 7-year-period.
Also, I keep coming back to the fact that ROR tried to talk Trotz into trading for Marner when he was reportedly available. Trotz apparently tried to acquire him but couldn't come into agreement on the price. I don't think they've forgotten Marner completely, and all the talk of "trying to be competitive next year" makes me believe they'll try to sign him over the summer.
But if he wants to factor in other considerations than pure $$$, such as less annoying media, or perceives a better chance of winning elsewhere, he could sacrifice some of that to go elsewhere... Florida, Vegas, and Seattle could fit him in among other teams with no state tax. (Yes, even Vegas with just $10.5M space atm - I'm sure they could find a way given their track record!) I don't know why he'd come to Seattle or us if he's in that position, however. There are plenty of contending teams, or teams with better supporting talent that he could get as much money from as us. There is allure in playing in big markets like Chicago or New York or Boston or LA. The state income tax is just one component of his potential earnings, it represents a few percentage points on his overall salary. Which historically for us has been enough of an attraction as long as we were at least a competitive team. Now as a basement-dwelling team, I doubt that slim advantage will hold much weight.
And all of that is quite fine with me... Marner is a very good player, but I come back to pointing out that he's not really much better than a Forsberg-level guy. If you're going to pay that player $12-15M for the next 7 years, I think it's a very questionable contract. He's not a savior on his own. We have weakness in so many areas that I don't think it makes sense to pile that much money on one mid-level star forward instead of spreading it out across 3 or 4 solid players in other areas.
