Marleau is not going anywhere until his contract expires and Toronto has no say in that because of his nmc. You also have to resign Kapanen. Tavares does not work in Toronto.

there is no way your refuse tavares because you have to sign players like Kapanen, The marleau deal is fascinating because it is largely signing bonus money and he might be intriguing to acquire because he'll still carry the 6.25 cap hit but only cost the team a fraction of that.

8 million for Carlson is just too much. I know you can say "well then the Leafs won't get him" and that is totally fine by me. I think there are better avenues that save us cap space than overpaying for Carlson.