No... GM’s and Owners have a shared intrest in keeping salaries low. If everyone starts firing offersheets back and forth like cannons you will accomplish little other than inflating costs...

I think you'll be surprised. Not everyone has the forward firepower the Leafs do. And not everyone has a desirable market to sign in.

That would be the price say, the Islanders would have to pay.

If they do and he reverts back to a 60-70 point player without Tavares... ouch... someone’s going to get their pee pee slapped

If a GM in a market that struggles to find super stars has an opportunity to get one, they should do it. By the time these offer sheets materially impact salary inflation, half the GMs in the league will be elsewhere.

But would they?
Low-key, I actually hope they would. They massively overperformed this season and 4 unprotected 1sts + an overpaid Marner crippling their cap situation? YES PLEASE!

A bridge deal is 1 year, maybe 2 if the guy is still mostly "potential" and he thinks he needs a little more time to become top notch. Marner has 61, 69 and 94 points... 1 year if he really wants to help the team get past a sticky cap situation, but that is it, and frankly no reason for him to even do 1. 3 is unicorn town. Especially if it is so that they can afford to bring Zucker in at $5.5M.

You need to put yourself in their shoes. Some teams have to overpay. The Leafs don't, the Rangers don't... but some cold weather cities and some secondary markets do.

Bridge deals are possible at all levels for various reasons.
Matthews offered 3@9

And Marner was a 60-70 point player until he got a superstar centre to prop up his numbers.
There is obviously something to prove here.

This is what I'm saying. There is no benefit to Marner to bridge for 3 years at less than what he's worth. It's nice for Leafs fans, but makes really no sense for Marner. He's proven what he wanted to prove. Oh, and you told Tavares when he signed he'd have Marner flanking him...

No they will be right there waiting for them on their new team. Try to think of salaries as a whole across the league. The lower amount X is then the happier the owners are.

Do you remember a guy, I think he played for the Leafs - Bill Nylander, I think....?

I think the assumption that the unique offer sheet scenario will have a material impact on all salaries is wrong. These are very rare scenarios. Just because you overpay a guy in an offer sheet does not mean the next guy in free agency gets to ask for more money than he would otherwise.


Everything should be looked at subjectively. What a guy signs to extend somewhere cannot be compared to what a guy signs in free agency. Leverage will dictate the dollar, not necessarily the players ability. If Marner gets $12M in an offer sheet, that doesn't mean Aho extends with CAR @ $12M in a year from now. (Not a perfect example but you know what I'm getting at).

Who asked for 8@8.5 and got 6@6.9 after the longest holdout in cap history.

And let me add to this by saying that there's more on an owners mind than just salary cap. A guy like Marner could make the difference in a secondary market from a half full building, to a packed house every night plus the playoffs.

Please go back and read the first post of mine that you replied to.... I think you are moving goal posts.

Explain. Not trying to be rude, genuinely asking.

I said if gm’s Start firing offersheets back and forth like cannons.

It is the cost effect coupled with the compensation that keeps gm’s From handing out offersheets.

All of these teams with cap space that are going to offersheet rfa’s (just Toronto though, point,Aho,Rantanen, Tkachuk and Mcavoy are all safe) all have rfa’s that will come die shortly and after they add their 12-13m marner will be In the same position to have their players sheeted.

Personally I would never trade Sandin or liljigren unless its a Top 2 or top 4 RHD WITH TERM. They are most likely going to be a top 4 pairing after next season in 20-21 or 21-22 for a long period of time.

It will be tough to find money to pay the defence in the future!

Well, that's a little misleading. He got 6.9 for 5 1/2 years. Yes his cap hit is 6.9, but you can't tell me him missing half the season helped the team.
Bruins fan, so I might be a little jaded, but Marner is twice as good/Important.

The leverage he has is Sitting out. Yes, he would probably eventually sign, but It seems like the Bruins and Leafs are going to be battling for the next half decade, and I'm betting whichever team has home ice, likely wins the series. Also - he seems to have a pretty good relationship with Matthews who probably wouldn't be thrilled if they jerk him around.

Also - Not a great chance, but there are some teams with $ out there who may just swoop in with RFA offer. Admittedly unlikely, but if it were to happen it's going to be on a player of Marner's skill paired with a team who is facing some cap issues.

Understood. They certainly want to avoid a war of offer sheets, but I doubt that would happen. We're in a unique situation this offseason with the all the players stated above being available. (Laine too). Not every team that gets offer sheeted would have the picks required to hand another one out. Moreover, I think the teams that are most likely to offer sheet are the ones that don't have anyone they're truly scared to lose. Take the Rangers for example... if they offer sheet someone, what are they really worried about? That someone offer sheets Kakko 3 years from now? That could be the case, but a lot changes in that timeframe.

Nevertheless, your point is well taken that there is no desire amongst the GMs and owners to cannibalize themselves.... but one must wonder why it's in the CBA to begin with. If there was ever a time to do it, it certainly seems like now. Although no one offer sheeted Stone, so you're probably right - will never happen.

For these high priced rfa’s you do not need consecutive picks... just any 4 1sts. If you look in the calculator here you will see that all teams are eligible. Even while the rangers are offersheeting buch they have a few rfa’s of their own, they don’t necessarily have to be high end stars.

Most gm’s Act civilized and are willing to try to negotiate a trade first before the offersheet. Little known fact but if an offersheet is not matched the two teams can still negotiate a trade rather than take the compensation. The entire point of offer sheets is not so much a tool for GM’s as it is for players who are not being offered fair contracts. I think a lot of people do not realize this.