1. Toronto doesn’t flinch, they can afford 15 mill.
2. You can pay him a maximum 14 mill.
3. It’s 4 1sts as compensation.

The max will be more when the cap goes up. Toronto can not afford 15 million. They will already be paying Nylander and need to pay Marner.

This will never happen, but if it did the leafs would liquidate and hold onto him. Also very likely teams would avoid trading with Arizona for a while as its kind of an unwritten rule to not offer sheet players, especially of that calibre.

If it did happen, the leafs would return the favour to Clayton Keller the following year likely.

the Leafs will lock up Matthews way before he becomes RFA, he only just started hi 2nd yr, hes not even eligible to sign till 2018 summer of

JMO, Marner gets traded before he becomes RFA, hes a step behind AM and WN right now

Obviously I'm a Leaf fan, but the signing of Matthews is a real possibility by Arizona. A few clarifications: The earliest the RFA offer sheet can happen is summer of 2019. If the cap is 80m, Matthews can be offered 20% or 16m. Yes the compensations on such an offer sheet is 4 first rounders.
Leafs and Matthews can sign an extension in the summer of 2018. But grandview17 and other others, stop all this chest thumping, the Leafs can't lock up Matthews if Matthews doesn't sign a long term extension.
Matthews can still go on one year contracts for four years after his ELC and be a UFA in 2023. Or the RFA offer sheets can start rolling in, years earlier.
And this Clayton Keller revenge. So the Leafs overpay for Keller and lose four first rounders to Arizona. Arizona still wins. Matthews > Keller.
Just in hindsight. Maybe Nashville should not have matched Flyers offer sheet for Shay Weber. Got four first rounder from Flyers. Then spend that 7.8m that was spent on Weber on UFAs.. Maybe the Leafs take this route if Matthews is offer sheeted.
As grandview19 indicated, if the Leafs really wanted to keep Matthews at all. $$$$ costs., maybe Marner needs to get traded.

Why on earth would the leafs give up 4 1sts for Keller? they offer 7-8 mil and get a likely future 80 point player if they don't match, and force Arizona to lose all depth if they do. That would likely be valued at a 1st, 2nd and 3rd with the cap at $80m while the leafs get 4 1sts in return. No reason to believe any parties would do this. They offer Matthews that and Arizona is an outcast among GMs. The leafs match the offer, it hurts both teams immensely and Matthews will be playing on a team that lacks depth for the next 7 years. He will not leave as an RFA. There is no indication that he would want to leave Toronto and this Arizona nonsense is just as crazy as those people saying Tavares will take a huge pay-cut in free agency because he's from Toronto. Auston will be the future captain of the leafs and will likely sign a 7yr+ extension next summer.

Gee CameronLeafs. I didn't suggest the Leafs sign Keller. Regarding the RFA signing of Matthews. If any team would make the offer sheet it would be Phoenix. They have the cap room and maybe hometown boy Matthews would be their "saviour". And four draft picks in the 20s, doesn't hurt Phoenix that much. They do have good young talent now, so they could be a good team with Matthews. So the won't be stripped of depth as you suggest.
Just because if presented an offer sheet, it doesn't mean he has to sign it. But it sure provides leverage in contract negotiations with the Leafs if it happens.
Of course there is no indication right now that Matthews wants to leave the Leafs. I don't believe he does. But if Matthews does not sign an extension next summer.....and that can certainly happen., lets jump to the summer of 2019. Phoenix offers sheet.. 16m and Matthew signs. Leafs have been offering 12m. Then the Leafs have the 7 days whether to match or not.
I'll agree with you that Matthews signs an extension with Leafs next summer. But let's stop all this hometown "chest pounding" that it guaranteed Matthews stays. The current RFA for a star player is 4 first rounders. But the same price is for a young superstar. Certainly the value of a offer sheet by Arizona is very practical.

You said "so the leafs overpay for Keller and lose four 1st rounders to Arizona", that wouldn't happen, thats all I was saying. Hypothetically, if Arizona sent an offer-sheet (1% chance IMO) and Matthews accepted (0.5% chance IMO), and the leafs didn't match (0.1% chance IMO) the offer would have to be so huge that it would be something like $16million/season. At that point Arizona have ~1mil in cap space and have Keller, Strome, Crouse Fischer and Anderson all needing new deals. IF Keller Strome and Crouse all pan out they can be in the range of 3.5-7m/season, Fischer and Anderson are likely in the 3mil/season range. At that point, the $16million contract is so detrimental that Arizona can only afford to have ELC's in their bottom 6. All of those players would be open bidding for cheap offer sheets, which Arizona couldn't match due to their financial inflexibility. All I'm saying is that the chance of Matthews leaving on an offer sheet is so astronomically low that I don't see the point of this thread. It would destroy Arizonas franchise depth for years to come.

McDavid is making $12.5 million. Why would Matthews be making $2.5 million more when McDavid is better than him?

CameronLeafs. If you read the entire Keller thread, someone else suggested the Leafs offer sheet Keller. I think it ridiculous.
I'm not saying the Matthews, would accept an offer from Arizona or the Leafs wouldn't match. By your logic is flawed. You think Arizona can't afford Matthews at 16m, but you think the Leafs can at 12m.
Fact is, Arizona is can afford to offer the max to Matthews if they wanted to. Having Matthews it would not destroy the Arizona's depth as you suggest, especially if those picks on in the 20s.
It sound like you're "chest thumping"....no one can offer sheet our star. Get over it. Arizona can, not saying they will.

LOL people think just because you give an offer sheet, that a player HAS to sign it or else......The player can still say "no" you know....