Serious question

i would imagine that njd, fla, nyr, col, nash, and maybe to some extent nyi or perhaps chicago and ottawa

First of all I fon’t Think marner will hit RFA and secondly I don’t Think he signs any offersheet that isn’t a wild over payment.

That being said I think maybe the islanders, Devils, rangers or possibly Nashville. could make it fit. I’ve heard chatter of Avs but they have Rantanen to worry about. The other teams that have Soace don’t have the bankroll to front load and offer a lock out insured contract. There are a few other teams that might be interested but would have to move some contracts around.

I would scratch Florida from the list, don’t see them willing to give him a 12m signing bonus if there may be a lockout. And colorado has Rantanen to deal with.

I didn’t have Chicago on my list though. They might be in a position but would have to shed some salary first.

Let imagine an offer sheet is presented to Marner at 10m X 7 years. IMO he doesn't sign it and goes to the Leafs and now he has a concrete bargaining chip. I still believe there are life term benefits being a Leaf, especially one with Cup potential and he would sign for less than 10m as a Leaf. But what happens if the offer is 12m (the second highest in the NHL) and the Leafs hold to a 10m offer. What side "gives in"
I just might think Marner signs the 12m offer sheet. Leafs decline to match then spend that 9.5m or whatever they allotted for him on another player and also have the 4 first rounders.

I think Kapanen would be the main target of an offersheet. At $4M AAV for up to 5 years the compensation would only be a 2nd round pick. It puts the leafs in a tough situation where they have 7 days to try to clear cap space to match it or take the 2nd rounder as compensation.