Menzinger
Kessel4LadyByng
You really think a GM is going to go in offering significant assets for what Marner is currently demanding. The whole league is in a holding pattern with RFA's. I also can't see many teams offering Marner the bonus structure he likely wants. This will just play out and it will likely lead to Mitch re-signed at somepoint. Way too many teams have uncertainty for this to be a good market to trade Marner, and in general, you will lose trading a player like Marner. I mean Boston, Calgary, Tampa, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Philly and Colorado all have RFA issues at the moment. This isn't exclusive to us.
The Leafs won't "win" the trade but getting useful assets is better than having a player you cant sign.
I think you're also severely underestimating the potential market for Marner if dubas says hes open for business. The idea that the rest of the league is going to shrug and say "meh" doesnt hold up.
I've been generally cautiously optimistic for most of this offsesson presuming they'd be able to reach a compromise one. 6 test deal. But given how the Leafs are acting now seems clear we're entering unknown territory. And imo a gm like Dubas would be more open to bucking conventional wisdom and explore something like a trade.