Well said, but this won’t go over well with the Cult of Marnerality….
The only way the Leafs improve without Marner on the team is if they use the $12m that he would have been paid, to improve our forwards and defence.
Unless that is done, moving on from Marner will weaken the team. Treliving needs to use the freed up cap space on players who make us better.
Leafs have 4 of the top 12 highest contracts AAV in the NHL, while the other 31 teams combined for the other 8 combined. That is complete lunacy in a Salary Cap world using up 53% of their entire cap space.
Its a wise saying
"Don't put all your eggs in one basket" .. This is a piece of advice which means that
one should not concentrate all efforts and resources in one area as one could lose everything.
When you can have a single goalie Shesterkin holding the Leafs to 1 goal in this case shutting out Marner, Nylander and Tavares, and we have seen how this makes the Leafs an easy out come playoff time EVERY year, because the teams remaining depth is always limited due to cap space where the opposition will have more balanced cap spending to overcome only a few players being held in check.
This to me makes Marner the most likely to move on from because ..
1) Centres have more value than wingers in team building and much greater responsibilities and "strength down the middle a key to success". Strong centres carry their lines and make their wingers better.
2) Goal scorers are more valuable than playmakers as its goals that decide games not pretty passes.
3) The goal of any season is not piling up regular season points but winning the championship in the playoffs.. The playoffs are far more physical and where time and space is removed and as such smaller. softer and non physcal players struggle, and of the core 4 more than Marner.
4) Balance the attack, by spending $6 mil on a top 6 winger capable of 25-30 goals (which matches Marner goal production for 1/2 the cap cost) & then bring in a top 4 Dman for another $6 mil to prop up the defense and increasing its depth where a player like McCabe becomes a bottom 6 player but having better players above him.
5) Marner is one of the biggest overpaid players in the game.. Kucherov coming off a 44 goal 100 assist 144 points season as the best WINGER in the game occupies $9.5 mil as a direct Div rival to the Leafs. Marner has never scored 100 points let alone 100 assists in a single season, so how can ANYONE validate a contract where Leafs need to pay him say $12.5 mil (+$3 mil more) that the best player at his positon?