How much does your valuation of Marner depend on whether he comes with an extension?
No extension, no interest. We're not winning any trophies next year.
The idea bouncing around my head is
Marner +23 for Bjorkstrand + 8 + ?. The ? being something along the lines of one of your 2nds and one of the Rehkopf/Nyman/Goyette grouping.
Oleksiak is also interesting
Trading 1st rounders (or Rehkopf) feels like it crosses a line for us, the team just isn't good enough yet.
At the same time, we have an abundance of forward prospects and I'd be okay with including multiple of them instead.
I'm also fine with including Oleksiak. His regular season value is debatable.
I imagined you would have preferred Larsson, but Oleksiak is easier for us to give up since he's not on our top pair.
Marner for Bjorkstrand + Oleksiak + Nyman + Goyette + 2nd (40th OA).
Marner is obviously more impactful as a player than that whole package, but we'd already be paying perhaps more than he's worth in salary and cap hit, so it's hard to put more into a trade package than that.
1st 2025 + 2nd 2024 (NYR) + Bjorkstrand + Sale/Nyman/Goyette is maybe what he is agreeable to? Probably not enough for Marner but I just don't see Francis wanting to sacrifice much of his future for Marner.
I'm not sure if I like that deal more than what 4th-line proposed.
We'd have that lack of 1st rounder hanging over our heads all year if the team isn't good, and I don't think we'll be that good. Too many teams stepping up in the West.