You don’t become captain scoring 40 points on the 3rd line…. I’m sure he’s a very intelligent character guy who might become an excellent two way player but I’m skeptical he would be named captain ahead of Matthews, Rielly or even a Cowan.
I tend to agree that it might a stretch to see the "C" on Minten, but this doesn't mean he can't be a leader and shouldn't be a core piece of our next wave. He does seem like a leader, a smart player, and versatile. His lack of offense might even help keep him less expensive over the first six or seven years of his NHL career.
It would be great for us if he were NHL ready now and maybe he is. This team can win with three forwards making $35M if we have four or five contributing at $10M or less.
We have not had low-cost contributors during the Matthews era. Knies was decent in his rookie season (very good in the playoffs), McMann and Benoit both showed they could be parts moving forward and are locked in at good numbers, Holmberg and Robertson have shown just as enough to include them in the "run it back" one more year giving them a real chance to show. Woll of course too.
Cowan, Minten, Grebyenkin are very important for our next phase. Niemela, Hildeby, and Akhtyamov also. I also think Hirvonen and Tverberg could've bottom six guys, possibly Webber too. Danford is too far out for this discussion I think
In a couple years our big three (if Marner resigns) won't be considered overpaid and if some of the aforementioned youth can crack the roster or be valuable trade chips then we will also have the resources to add free agents to SUPPORT and AUGMENT what we have. We can't build a contender through free agency.
We do lack top end D prospects and any Marner trade should prioritize this return.