Lets Go Blues
Joined: Jun. 2016
Posts: 6,750
Likes: 4,320
Personally I don't see an extra 2.5 or 3 mil of overpay as "a lot of money", speaking from the perspective of roster management. Plenty of teams carry around a replacement level player on the roster that makes that much. So you move that guy, pretend you didn't, play a replacement player for under 1m, and call Marner's 11m AAV a combo of 8m + the 3m you saved.
If Svechnikov strong-arms CAR for a 10m x 8 yr deal and then has a bad season/playoffs, would you take a couple prospects and the 27th overall pick for him in the next offseason to get help with cap issues? I think the Marner trades are less about money/overpayment and more about short-term frustration.