FanPost

Mitchell Marner Offer Sheet




Yes, it’s that time of the year. We all get to speculate who the Devils could offer sheet, and it never happens because no GM ever does it. So... this is my brilliant idea that will never come to fruition.

There has been a lot of talk about the possible offer sheets/trades of Andreas Johnsson and Kasperi Kapanen of the Toronto Maple Leafs. It makes a ton of sense. The Leafs are in a pretty tough situation. They have 9 million dollars in cap space, yet have to resign Kapanen, Johnsson, and Marner. They also may need to sign a defenseman, depending on how they feel a couple of their prospects are developing. After Kapanen and Johnsson both broke out for 20 goals a piece, it simply is not possible for Toronto to keep all three without trading major pieces.

My plan isn’t to go for the smaller players, it’s to offer sheet perhaps the most talented player on their team. Offer Marner 5 years at 10.5 million dollars. That would cost the Devils their next two years of first round picks, as well as next year’s second and third. A small price to pay for a player who flirted with 100 points. The argument against this will likely be that Marner is a core player that the Leafs will do anything to keep. But I’m not so sure if they’d keep him at 10.5 million. If they did, it would mean over 33 million (or roughly 40% of the cap) on three players. At the very least it would get Toronto to think about not matching it.

What Marner would bring to the Devils is obvious. He is one of the game’s best wingers and instantly would turn our offense into an elite one. He is 13th out of all forwards in goals above replacement. He also plays at a position of need, so there would be no need to shuffle things around. If anything he could allow Bratt to return to his natural wing. Marner would also turn our powerplay into an elite one. The first powerplay unit would be Hughes, Hall, Nico/Palmieri, Marner, Butcher/Severson.

I’ll leave you with an arbitrary projected forward lineup, to show how deep this forward group could be.

Hall-Nico-Palmieri

Bratt-Hughes-Marner

Zacha-Zajac-Coleman

Wood-depth signing-Agostino

That second line would have the potential to be better than most first lines. Yes it’s not going to happen, but I honestly would not be sure what the Maple Leafs do if someone offers Marner that contract. Do they trade Nylander and pay someone to take on Marleau and Horton? Let me know what you think.

All FanPosts and FanShots are the respective work of the author and not representative of the writers or other users of All About the Jersey.