You can just feel the spidey senses tingling for the Marner PR crew.
You will be reprimanded very promptly for not proclaiming how dramatically superior to Rantanen he is.
Option C IMO is the one that works for both parties. You wanna have your money kid? Go ahead and have it, but the perks of Toronto can come and go in an instant.
Wingers just do not have the same pull that centers do. Gaudreau is the only winger since the covid era to hit real FA and he didn't get nearly as much as people thought he would. Usually teams get these guys locked up on good deals before they hit UFA, and once again, not very high numbers at all. Look at the numbers Tampa, Minnesota, Florida, etc.. all got Kucherov, Kaprizov, Tkachuk on. All 11-12% range. Avs even did Rantanen a solid by offering a bit more than that. But they clearly know the market and aren't tolerating any nonsense.