Not necessarily a star defenseman, but there are a lot of recent examples of competitive teams moving valued contributors to maneuver the cap and extend their competitive windows.Are there any recent examples of a team trading a young, star, right handed defenceman and coming out ahead?
There's a real shortage at the position and I think people are undervaluing how hard it would be to replace him. Yes, he is disastrous defensively at times but the team comes out way ahead with his puck moving ability and offensive skills. He's still only 25 and was fifth in Norris voting last season. He was also breaking records last season with his playoff production. I think trading him would lead to a lot of regret.
The reason it makes sense is that we've seen our PP run smoothly in past seasons with Barrie and Klefbom in that QB role. I don't think it's out of the question that you could find top four option on the UFA or trade market for a fraction of the AAV to pick up a big chunk of those minutes.
You also have to factor in the kind of impact that an elite two-way winger of Marner's caliber could have on the team's ability to push the offensive play. I think Toronto has done a decent job of that without a Bouchard caliber puck mover.
Marner at $12m instead of Bouchard at $9m+ could be a decent trade off.
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