As I've stated several times, I personally think Marner will not waive his NMC, and will re-sign with Toronto at the $10.5M-$11M range over 8 years with a 10-15 team NMC clause. This gives him a year at redemption while being public enemy #1 among the fans - if he puts up a 100 point season and gets the team deep into the playoffs next year, I'm 99% sure all will be forgiven haha.
Now having said that, let's assume that he agrees to a sign and trade come July 1st.
To LA:
- Mitch Marner ($11M)
- 2026 3rd Round Pick
- William Villeneuve
To TOR:
- Adrian Kempe ($7M)
- Michael Anderson ($4.125M)
Why does Toronto do it?
- Gives Marner a fresh start and in return gets a solid 1st line winger with term in Kempe and on the right side of 30.
- Gets a solid LD Top 4 defenceman with an incredible 8-year term
- Fills out the roster by adding defensive depth in addition to a front-line player.
Why does Los Angeles do it?
- I think this could actually work for LA - they're basically a less tragic version of Toronto in that they have some amazing young talent (Byfield) along with solid, aging veterans (Kopitar and to a lesser extent Doughty). They have a solid support cast (Moore, Fiala, Danault) but have gone all in on Dubois who did not have a great season
- Kempe is very good, but he's not a game buster in the same way that Marner is when the latter is locked in. The sheer vision and playmaking skills that Marner has is lacking in LA and would open up Dubois' and Byfield's game in a way that few other players can. Similarly, having big, bruising 6'4, 6'5 forwards to play alongside Marner would open up a lot of space for him to do his magic in both the regular season and potentially the playoffs.
Good trade? Dumb trade? haha, come at me....