simple answer... bye bye Ceci. there goes $4.5M in cap. then can either sign a vet for cheap, make a trade for a cheaper d-man, or call up Liljegren or Sandin.. so it's gonna take over that kinda offersheet to get Marner. Which is 4 unprotected 1st round picks.

i think Toronto wants Ceci, why else trade for him. double trades of players are very rare. also i think he will be very important for that D corp to do well. another old cheap guy is a option, but not great, and Liljegren or Sandin are not playing all season, especially in a top 4 role.

The Leafs could go 22 man roster...which isn't recommended. Maybe Kapanen gets traded for futures and the Leafs fill the 22 and 23 spots with 1m players.

Does Toronto want Ceci? Sure, maybe. Does Toronto want Ceci if it costs them Mitch Marner? .. you're on so many drugs if you think that answer is yes. If it came down to they had to move someone to keep Marner, you can bet your ass Ceci is gone in less than a heartbeat. Sandin or Liljegren wouldn't have to play top 4 all season. Dermott is only out until December, then after that it'd be:
Rielly - Dermott
Muzzin - Barrie

Sandin and Liljegren can handle bottom pairing minutes, or as I said Toronto can sign or trade for a veteran that makes a cheap amount. Greg Pateryn from Minnesota makes a lot of sense. There's tons of possibilities to moves contracts around for cap space to fit Marner. It's really not as big of an issue as people on here seem to think.

Toronto will match and then be worse off as a team. It would be simply to screw TML over to O/S him at that.

IMO, the same thing would happen for the Jets with Connor and Laine.....Teams will always match unless its a high stupid offer

If the Leafs defense is Rielly-Dermott, Muzzin-Barrie, Sandin-Liljegren, then they will have the most mobile and talented defense core in the NHL. Be prepared to see lots of mistakes but also a lot of offense.

How do they get rid of Ceci?

trade..

that's literally the dumbest question I've ever read. Lol

do you not watch hockey? .. Rielly is solid both ways. Dermott is as well. Muzzin is a great defender. Barrie has his question marks, but can move the puck well enough to make up for his mistakes. Sandin is a very good puck mover and defender. He's come a long way since being drafted. Liljegren was drafted as an offensive minded d-man but vastly improved his defensive game this past season after his injury. Bottom pair with a veteran and he'd be fine for 10-12 minutes of playing time per night

I know that Rielly and Dermott are great defensive players as well, and Muzzin is a pure stay at home physical defenseman. But the truth is, the more mobile and capable your defenseman are in moving the puck, the more prone to mistakes they are.

You’re going to have to take on money for Ceci. Doesn’t lol supposed to mean somethings funny?

yeah.. it's funny how dumb of questions you post..

Toronto just traded Zaitsev who makes the same AAV with Connor Brown and only had to include 1 AHL player to get the deal done.. Ceci at $4.5M to a team that needs to hit the cap floor is very moveable with taking on limited amounts of money. & then again, sign a veteran or trade for a veteran to fill that spot that makes less. Greg Pateryn from Minnesota makes a lot of sense and makes $2.25M

Trade Ceci along with a prospect or pick for Pateryn.. not a bad deal at all actually and it saves over $2M in cap space. Add that $2M onto the $9M Toronto currently has in cap space and that's $11M to sign Marner.. which is more than enough.

So please stop responding to my posts with dumb questions. It's a waste of time for both of us.

Lol.

Stop wasting time writing paragraphs. I only read the first sentence from you.

well at least you still know how dumb of questions you post then. Lol.