Speculation: Marner blocked a trade to Carolina for Rantanen

[Beukeboom Fan]

You don't think Matthews could get more if he went to RFA in 2019, instead of signing early, with no drama?

Marner went to RFA and exhausted all avenues and found that nobody was gonna offer him more than dumbass Dubas.

Nylander probably gets more than 11.6 as a UFA.

Also, if Nylander wanted to be really greedy, he could've taken the short term contract path that Matthews and Mitch want to do.

Tavares turned down a 8x11 million dollar contract in New York. He also turned down even more money from San Jose...and didn't try to twist Torontos arm to give him the same amount San Jose offered.

Marner is just a whole lot of drama... he constantly is a distraction to his team.

Guys turning down an extra 500K to come home on a 10.5M contract isn't really a discount IMO.

And certainly don't agree that AM or WN left anything on the table. AM only signing a 5 year deal was to take advantage of the cap raises. I think WN was the highest paid winger in the NHL when signing his deal.

 

[belair]

Edm defense is already shallow and only Ekholm (older and decline risk) and Nurse (overpaid and YoY inconsistency risk) are certified top 4D entering 2025-2026. Thus it makes moving Bouchard a top 5D in the league when on a biazarre move

Bouchard unless he goes for Defense or Defense prospects doesnt make sense.

Marner will also want 14M not 12M as he will be getting 7 years term with Oilers (or any other team) so they need to overpay AAV even more to make it up.

The smart play for oilers is bridge Bouchard at 7M and get 1 of Provorov, Chychrun, Ekblad at 7M

I think the Oilers could fill the void on Bouchard, who is likely to ask north of $8m on an extension this summer himself. They just picked up Walman, who early on looks like he may be a bit of a two-way gem. If they're able to get some trade capital out of an asset like Bouchard, I could see the Oilers pivoting.

The first half of this season, the Oilers' team defense was tremendous. And although Bouchard's ability to transition contributed to those results, I'd argue Marner could have a similar, if not greater impact of he were playing with either one of their centers.

Bouchard's big selling point is how much of a weapon he is on the PP. And this season, some of that lustre has come off. And in all honesty that PP was humming with Barrie and even with Klefbom in previous seasons.

Bouchard is a top tier offensive D in this league and as such, he's a top tier trade asset that could potentially re-stock their cupboard a bit, which is necessary to extend that competitive window.

I get where you're coming from, but I think we should expect Edmonton to be a suitor if Marner is listening to offers in the summer. It makes a lot of sense.

 

[hullsy47]

I'm hearing conflicting reports. One is that they offered 2x 1st Cowan and Minten. This is saying it was likely just Marner straight up?

The next offer was knies ans 2 first

 

[hullsy47]

And then to bring balance to the force McDavid then comes back home in a year

I think if mcdavid doesnt extend july 2nd
Hes coming home

 

[Antropovsky]

Guys turning down an extra 500K to come home on a 10.5M contract isn't really a discount IMO.

And certainly don't agree that AM or WN left anything on the table. AM only signing a 5 year deal was to take advantage of the cap raises. I think WN was the highest paid winger in the NHL when signing his deal.

So you are of the opinion that Matthews couldn't have gotten more money if he wouldve went into offersheet period in 2019? And he wouldn't have gotten more money this past year if he became a UFA?

 

[Leaf Fans]

I'm hearing conflicting reports. One is that they offered 2x 1st Cowan and Minten. This is saying it was likely just Marner straight up?

Yeah, they may have offers both. One with Marner and when Marner didn't wave then they offered the picks and prospects. At any-rate, according to Friedman every thing was done professionally.

 

[TheSuperElite]

yea he's gone. way too embarrassing for him if he re-signs there after they told him they don't want him anymore

 

[Legion34]

Then work out a deal to a team he’s willing to go to.

Mitch was well within his rights to handle this how he did.

He refused to provide a list or work with the team in the summer. They said they were playing it out. No trades.

I don’t blame him for not jumping on a plane to Carolina.

I blame him for forcing the team to walk him to ufa (if that’s the plan)

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

yea he's gone. way too embarrassing for him if he re-signs there after they told him they don't want him anymore

If the Leafs pay him and sign him back, why would that be embarrassing? He wants to be in Toronto. And if the Leafs sign him for a fair market deal, they want him back too.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

He refused to provide a list or work with the team in the summer. They said they were playing it out. No trades.

I don’t blame him for not jumping on a plane to Carolina.

I blame him for forcing the team to walk him to ufa (if that’s the plan)

That's the nature of the business though right. Everyone want's some leverage. At the end of the day, it is really for the team to decide if they want said player or not.

 

[krutovsdonut]

i don't get the sense marner embarrasses easy.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Marner wants to win now and he knows he has a much better chance of that happening in Toronto than Carolina. No offence.

 

[John Mandalorian]

i don't get the sense marner embarrasses easy.

There was a purpose for this becoming public.

 

[North]

He refused to provide a list or work with the team in the summer. They said they were playing it out. No trades.

I don’t blame him for not jumping on a plane to Carolina.

I blame him for forcing the team to walk him to ufa (if that’s the plan)

Blame Dubas for giving him the NMC.

Mitch exercised his rights as related to it.

 

[Seras]

He refused to provide a list or work with the team in the summer. They said they were playing it out. No trades.

I don’t blame him for not jumping on a plane to Carolina.

I blame him for forcing the team to walk him to ufa (if that’s the plan)

He isn't forcing anything.

Marner has a contract, he is fulfilling it till it expires and then he will see what options are available to him.

Takes confidence in oneself, anything could happen to him this season, I have no doubt his agent, friends, family and teammates have all told him this.

 

[Leaf Fans]

yea he's gone. way too embarrassing for him if he re-signs there after they told him they don't want him anymore

Why would it be embarrassing? Friedman has stated both sides acted professionally.

 

[Connor McConnor]

Yeah, they may have offers both. One with Marner and when Marner didn't wave then they offered the picks and prospects. At any-rate, according to Friedman every thing was done professionally.

Doesn’t make sense to me tho. If leafs in win now mode, they could have found a way to fit rants in with Marner. The Marner offer seems highly unlikely to ever have been offered. Marner isn’t signing long term in Carolina and rants isn’t in Toronto.

 

[Schennanigans]

There’s a lot of players that wouldn’t want to get traded to Carolina.

 

[Leaf Fans]

Doesn’t make sense to me tho. If leafs in win now mode, they could have found a way to fit rants in with Marner. The Marner offer seems highly unlikely to ever have been offered. Marner isn’t signing long term in Carolina and rants isn’t in Toronto.

Yeah, it is quite possible that there is no truth to the report, but as far as Friedman says that is what happened.

 

[WildWolfdog]

He is allowed to enforce his NTC. The odd thing is that he wants to stay in Toronto but many fans will resent him for not waiving

Then he can sign with Toronto without the whole "I want to test the market" while claiming to be a Toronto boy who wants to stay here forever.

Which one is it?

 

[WildWolfdog]

Marner will remember that the team tried to trade him.

He is not about to uproot his life on a whim for 2 months. Of course he blocked it I don't blame him.

He will weigh his options in the summer when it is a more appropriate time to move and talk it over with his wife and where they might want to raise a kid that is on the way. Likely isn't gonna feel the love from a program who just tried to trade him.

You give 9 years to a program, and they try to trade you while the group is in the thick of things. That is the thanks he gets.

He threatened to sign offer sheets the first time around - yeah a lot of love for "the program".

 

[WildWolfdog]

"Only and idiot takes less.."

Every single star player could go to UFA and use it as leverage to squeeze every extra penny out of their organization and certainly would get more money. Mcdavid, Kucherov, Mackinnon ...could easily have gotten more if they went to the market. How many do it? Marner did it last contract and is gearing up to do it again.

Marner not only did it last contract but him and his agent released a rumor he was negotiating to sign with the same Swiss Team Matthews played for, and then also released that he received two offersheets to apply more pressure. Of course afger resigning with the Leafs, Marner and his agent refused to ever answer if the offersheets were for more money than what he ultimately got from Toronto. We all know they weren't because Mitch would've loved to tell the world he took less to sign in Toronto.

Additionally, Marner doesnt want an 8 year contract. He was a contract like Matthews. He wants a 4 year contract. So in 4 years he can maximize one more time on a bigger annual salary with a cap increase.

This is also something every NHL star player could do and it would almost certainly guarantee they maximize there money but very few do it.

Mcdavid signed for 8x12.5 for 100 million

Matthews signed 5x11.625
He then signed for 4x13.25

So in 8 years he will have 98 million

But... had COVID not occurred, Matthews probably would've pulled a substantial amount more in than Mcdavid in the 8 years.

Great points - and just goes to show that his agent is using Marner (and Marner isn't a child, he's okay with it) to get as much as possible from the Leafs.

If that's the case fine, say you want max value (like Juan Soto did, literally after the world series lol) - don't pretend it's Toronto or nothing (and I do believe he wants to stay in Toronto, but on his agent and dad's terms).