Alright you are Mitch Marners agent, explain to him he needs to waive his NMC because he not only has a better chance at a cup but is going to score more and get a bigger contract with Ryan O'Reilly as his center and no goaltenders signed as a Predator.

That's an easy convo. He can sit in the press box or lace them up with ROR and Forsberg.

So Craig Berube on his first day on the job is going to make Mitch Marner a healthy scratch to make sure every player knows their NMC don't mean crap.

Good luck with that.

MMC means something but not everything. If Marner is going to play hardball then sitting him has be the outcome. People act like players are the only ones with power. Teams, coaches, GMs, and fanbases have power and influence too. If it's not Nashville it's going to be somewhere else.

Take out Saros and Wood and NSH considers

A NMC means Marner can select where he wishes to waive to if at all, any agent worth their salt would look amazing having Marner be a healthy scratch all season. It's terrible asset management from Toronto and ensures everyone in the league knows he will be a free agent July 1st. He holds all the bargaining chips at the moment.

Berube gets to select his lineup not his GM. And if he get's into doing what the GM says he already lost the locker room.

Please cite an event where one of the highest paid players in the league was a healthy scratch because they wouldn't waive a NMC or sign a new contract. It's career suicide and basically makes Marner look like the victim for wanting to stay with his team.

He's definitely not resigning with the Leafs. So it's in his best interest to waive and do a sign and trade, guaranteeing an 8th year. So this is a pretty straightforward conversation with Marner. He's going to want the extra money, and avoid dragging this out. The only question is where he wants to sign and if that team is interested.

His best interest is to pump up his numbers and score 100 points to justify a $12M pay day,

Marner already made the best move by saying he wants to stay in Toronto, which means Toronto has to open up negotiations show they are at an impasse and ask if he's willing to move. Then you allow his agent to ask for the best sign and trades from his selected teams, once he has the contract he wants, then Toronto can ask. But at this point the player is public in wanting to be gone, the other team has Toronto over a barrel, and Toronto has to expedite the move to have the necessary cap for free agency.

Yea, the Leafs aren't winning the trade. The time to trade him was before July 1st last year. But that doesn't matter now. It's addition by subtraction now. The biggest return will be cap space. If the Leafs get back a decent package that'll be a bonus. The Leafs have to get that player out of the room. Nothing else matters.

You get the real issue, but it's still not happening. Put yourself in Shannahan's shoes who is already on the hot seat, let's say he get "meh" value for Marner and potentially loses out on Lindholm to somewhere like the Bruins. Just imagine how crazy leafsnation would be.

I'd handicap it at 85% Marner stays in Toronto, and the most you get is picks for his signing rights.

What about this scenario? They leak to the media he is unwilling to take a pay cut over the summer, however much they actually negotiate, which will rile up Leafs nation against him (again), and then they take him off PP1 and start him on the 3rd line and see how much that does for his numbers. Given that the odds are high that he fills his diaper in the playoffs again next year, he will be no more attractive a UFA in May 2025 when the Leafs are out in the first or second round than he is now. Maybe a few weeks of that gets him to move in the fall, if not in the off season.

This could totally work, but now you have Nylander, Marner, and Tavares having his back and against management because they all hold NMCs. Pretty brutal to have your core upset at management and coaching for punishing a player for trying to maximize his value.

At that point you trade them all and start over.

Hard pass from NSH. NSH isn't moving Wood for anything right now. He is moving programs from UCONN to UND and he is still to young to determine if he should be moved. Why would NSH move this much for one guy? I'd rather just throw the bag at Reinhart if this how much Marner is going to cost.

So your thought process is, the Leafs need to ask Marner to move his NMC. If he doesn't scratch him or punish him by moving him down the lineup through a secret agreement with the new coach. And if anyone sides with Marner or calls foul get rid of them too? Yikes man.

Yes. It's about the team, not catering to a star player or a collection of stars. They've let the players run the show and have 1 series to show for it in 8 years. They have to change their approach.

Minnesota, not UND, FWIW.

I'm in complete agreement about Reinhart. Or Marchesseault. Or Guentzel. Or any of the numerous other UFA wingers that'll be available this summer.

I don't think an expensive winger is NSH's biggest need, or the best use of their cap space. If they do decide to go that route though, why not explore the UFA market first? Plenty of options that'll likely sign for a lot less than Marner - many with a better winning/playoff pedigree too.

None of them will cost NSH such a huge overpay in trade assets - like the one in this proposal - either.

You can't say it's about the team needs to not cater to stars when two of the largest contracts in the league kick in this coming off-season. Marner is 100% in the right to want his money after seeing his peer players get theirs. If Leafs brass want him out, it's their job to find him the extension he wants to a competitive team with the cap space (a tall order), and even then he can say no, because that is his right. Don't sign guys to NMC if you want to have the ability to move them as you see fit.

If the leafs ever did that to Marner, they would never get a UFA signing again. No player would ever take the chance of that happening to them if they were in the same position. Leafs might have to wait till the TDL and say were not re-signing you, who will you waive for a cup chance. Marner with double retention at the deadline could get a real good return.

Thanks for the correction on that. I had heard somewhere that it was UND, so that is good to know

https://twitter.com/GopherHockey/status/1790082439575937364

It just became official today. Guess Wood was too excited to wear a gold bucket, to wait until he got to NSH.

Some men just want to watch the world burn...