I don't think they'd have Larsson on the table whatsoever. He's a part of their leadership core and he's a type of player who is fairly limited in today's NHL. He's helped unlock a high-end part of Vince Dunn's game and the result has been a reliable top pairing right out of the gate. A flashy player won't convince them to move away from that. Doubtful that Larsson would want the move also.
I'm not sure what you mean by "meaningful" or "positive" contributions. I think what you mean to say is established elite, and my argument is suggesting that isn't the best use of Marner as a tradeable asset, because those trades end up being closer to one-for-one and the majority of those established elite players will generally eat up the majority of that cap.
Burakovsky comes in and puts up Bertuzzi's numbers this season, Shane Wright plays a rookie season mostly in Toronto's middle six looking like a responsible two-way guy, 30 points out of the gate and Nelson starts his pro career off on the right foot... Are the Leafs any worse off knowing that the other $6m in cap flexibility is being used to bring in a significant piece on D?
That is how the Leafs increase their available depth. Marner's outgoing contract would facilitate the addition of three active roster players--two forwards in their top nine and whoever the other ~$6m would go towards.
Shane Wright's 20 year old season this year has calmed a lot of the doubts that he had coming out of the draft. Seattle fans would rightfully hesitate at making this deal because Wright is projecting as a solid middle of the roster two way forward as a projected floor. More hype than any prospect in the Leafs organization currently. And a high ceiling at C where the Leafs may soon have a bit of a depth issue. Still actively playing on a
With respect to Larssson, just remember that the opportunity to acquire a player like Marner, in his prime, does nto come by very often.
With respect to "meaningful" and "positive".... Positive means somebody who's cap hit is less than what it would take to acquire a similar player overall player in unrestricted free agency. their cap hit. Meaningful means somebody that would be considered at top 6 forwrd, or top 3 defenceman on a good team.
Marner is an "elite" top 10 winger in the league. There's obviously no expectation for the Leafs to get a top 10 centre or top 10 defenceman. However, it doesn't seem at all unreasonable to me to say that the Leafs should be able to get at least one, if not two of a top ~60 centre, top ~60 winger, or top ~60 defenceman.
This year may have "calmed" the doubts about Wright being an NHL player... but he's still basically flatlined development in crucial development years, and that's a massive red flag.
With respect to your offer, The Leafs would be substantially better off trading Marner for pure futures versus accepting a deal like the one proposed. Sign Bertuzzi instead of trading for Burakovsky... let Minten play over Wright, and have whatever haul of futures a serious team would trade for him.
Larsson is certainly within the top 60 of the league's defencemen. Bjorkstrand ranked 85th in points amongst forwards and 37th amongst wingers; which would probably rank him in the high 40s low 50s amongst wingers in overall calibre given the fact that he played all 82 and there are obvious better players who just didn't play the full season like Svechnikov, Meier, Kane, etc.