Don't get me wrong... I HATE the idea of signing him too...
But cap space is only as good as what you can actually do with it.
You look at the list of impending UFAs for next year, adn it's not exactly an overwhelming list.
Shesterkin is he really gonna leave New York?
Rantanen would he really leave Colorado? and if he would, would it not put us in a similar position as Marner today with too many high $ forwards?
Draisaitl would be great, but I suspect that if he doesn't stay in Edmonton, he's not staying in Canada.
Ekblad I cannot imagine is leaving Florida.
So who does that leave you? Boeser? Provorov? Ehlers? Mangiapane? Konecny? Theodore? Verhaege? It's not an overly spectacular group, and that's before the list gets paired down by resignings. It's also not really featuring that 1 stud defenceman that we've been after for a while.
Sure, you can certainly argue that this wteam would be a lot better swapping Marner for Rantanen, or Marner + Jarnkrok for Boeser & Konecny... but that's a heck of a risk to be taking on July 1.
thats where I think we differ in our thinking and approach. I am not looking for a superstar winger/player(s).
First and foremost our needs is a 2C after Tavares is off the cap and then we need couple wingers who can put up about 50 points in regular season and can play heavy and chip in in the playoffs.
Think of wingers in top9 giving you about 40 to 60 points range on average from line 1 to line 3) with Matthews and Nylander putting up ppg or better in regular season, and when playoffs come around these wingers can also chip in; play heavy hockey and are not afraid of boardwork, going to the net, etc....
LW-Matthews-RW
LW-2C-Nylander
LW-3C-RW
LW-4C-RW
Rielly-Tanev
McCabe-Liljegren
OEL-Benoit
Goalies:
Voodoo1
Voodoo2
I really think goalies are voodoo LOL
At present we have:
for wingers Domi, Knies, McMann, Holmberg, upcoming: Cowan, may be: Robertson (asked for trade)
Center: Dewar, Kampf, upcoming: Minten (may be); potential to be C: Domi, Holmberg
Our defense: although improved I'd like to see Tanev drop down to 2D on the right side or we find another upgrade on the right side for 2nd pairing (unless Lily really steps up).
I think the cap space we will get we can really upgrade on our wing and defense. They don't have to be superstars they just have to be better than what we currently have.
I really think this is the way forward for the remainder of Matthews' contract. Marner doesn't work. He will cost too much and he needs a top end center to perform; he just can't drive his own line. We must look at other avenues for improving. We really don't need 3 forwards at 10+ AAV; if we have to spend 10+ AAV on a 3rd player other than Matthews and Nylander then it must be on defense; here is where a hockey trade will have to be made. We will have to overpay but thats the game. if Marner could waive right now; we could do that without having to mortgage future picks
I really think we need a different look and marner is definitely not it. He hasn't once shown me that he could be a playoff contributor in tough situations in 8 years; especially from Gm5 to Gm7 when games get even tighter and rougher he goes into a shell. That is just too much cap dedicated for a player who can't get going when going gets tough