as enticing as this is this is a horrible idea. i like the brock nelson signing though.

Why is it a terrible idea? Imagine having one of the biggest upcoming stars in the game, signed throughout his prime, to what is these days a cap hit that any almost 100 point guy has? In my opinion thats why I can't for the life of me understand why people have an issue with G's contract, 8.25 mil for a guy who can put up 100 points, and play in all situations??? Marner clearly is a game changer, does whatever he can to help the team win, and just had 94 points in a season when he turned 21. His arrow is only pointing up, and we basically get him after his growing points were sorted. I make this offer 100 out of 100 times.

I do like the idea here but what happens if Toronto decides to match? Where do we go after that? And I do agree with Roux in that the Nelson singing is a good idea. Takes pressure off of Patrick for a season or two so he can develop and not get matched against other teams No 2 lines.

If they do match it, if that's the first thing they do this offseason, they will be almost 5mil above the cap. Not sure how LTIR works exactly but I guess this is what they're doing with Nathan Horton's contract, but again not sure. Even so, that puts them at the limit, and this includes not signing other RFA's like Kaspanen and Johnsson, as well as losing other roster players for nothing such as Gardiner and Hainsey (although I guess this wouldn't be too big of a deal in all actuality). They would immediately find themselves in a poor position as GMs would now know they need to move roster players. I think it would be tough for them to find partners to trade guys like Marleau, Nylander (if they would even entertain it although the contract isn't looking great as of right now), Muzzin maybe. But by doing all this you create more holes around the roster. I think even making it 13, it would be almost nearly impossible for Toronto to match.

That all sounds good, and maybe I slightly overreacted, but is anyone really worth 12m and FOUR first round picks? I feel like it kind of jeopardizes the future of the franchise. Unlikely but what if Marner has a career ending injury? No matter how good he can be, if something goes wrong or his production drops massively, you've sunk a massive amount of resources into one single player.

While it may be a ton of resources in just one player, if you add Marner a second line center and a top 4 dman, this team should be in the playoffs every year so the first round pick should be like 20+ in the first round. The overall talent that kid has makes it worth it even at 12M+. He's also just 21 years old and i think the total length cant be more that 7 years? correct me if I'm wrong. Teams like tha Blackhawks and Penguins traded first round picks every year to add at the deadline for like 3-5 years to keep their chances of winning the cup open for a few more years. The other option here is by submitting an offer sheet, if Toronto knows they cannot match the offer, they can match it and workout a trade with us so they get something in return for losing Marner.

Well yeah of course injuries are always a risk but thats a risk with 100% of players. Being that its a factor that can happen to anyone, you can't really have that affect your decision in signing. If you think the player is worth 12.225 mil for putting up 90-100 points a year, playing critical minutes on special teams, and a player who you can clearly see is all about winning, and is only 21?!? You have to go for it. you basically let the team who drafted him take the risk, and now you're reaping the benefits of that.

Exactly right, teams can only sign other FA's to 7 year deals, however if you are re-signing a FA on your team you can add an 8th year. I would also think Toronto would try to work out a deal specifically because they know if the flyers add Marner and a vet dman, that they wouldnt be picking until the mid 20's at the very least anyway. Their GM is a good one clearly with the talent they've accumulated, in terms of contracts though (Marleau, Kadri, Hainsey, Nylander) he makes some questionable moves. Im sure he would ask for some prospects and not current roster players due to their cap situation, which is good so we wouldn't have to give up anyone playing. I bet if that happened, Fletcher would offer up some of our B level prospects, but would probably have to include a guy like Ratcliffe, and then guys like Rubstov, Hagg, Vorobyev, Laberge, NAK, etc etc.

I get it, you guys are kind of swaying me. I'd love to have Marner. I just am not a fan of huge make or break moves. Dude could get hit by a bus like any of us. I'm not one to live life in fear of bad luck, but it's definitely a huge undertaking. Should he continue to produce though and remain healthy for years to come it could be a great move as you said to open a serious cup window.