bustaheims
Well-known member
It's not, that's for sure, but, guys like Marner hitting UFA is not a common thing, either. In the last decade or so, only Tavares and Panarin have really been comparable UFAs.
2025 Offseason Thread: Spring Cleaning
- Thread starter herman
- Start date
If there was a team that Marner was 90% leaning towards signing with already it'd be nice to work something out, either a sign and trade or just a trade like Guentzel and Tanev last year, that benefits all 3 parties involved.
But you can't really blame him for wanting to go to July 1st and explore all of his options if he isn't currently locked into one right now. I'd have been annoyed if he signed with Vegas at like 12:01pm July 1st but it's sounding like he'll be taking his time here.
But you can't really blame him for wanting to go to July 1st and explore all of his options if he isn't currently locked into one right now. I'd have been annoyed if he signed with Vegas at like 12:01pm July 1st but it's sounding like he'll be taking his time here.
bustaheims
Well-known member
If the NHL still had the discussion period they trialed for a few years, I think a sign-and-trade would be more of a possibility, but, in the current system, he'd have to have a destination in mind already, for sure. I'm still hoping the Leafs can get something in return for his rights, but, it's looking less and less likely.
Yeah, the leafs f’d up by letting it get to this point.
They should have taken advantage of any trade windows they had.
What about Stamkos?
The Leafs could theoretically give his agent permission to talk to other teams before July 1st I guess in exchange for waiving his NMC for a team that's showing interest. But yeah I agree it's looking more and more likely something like that won't happen.
Stamkos signed a couple of days before free agency opened in 2016.
Assuming you aren't talking about Stamkos last year, who was a great player sure but too old to really be considered a marquee elite level free agent.
He certainly took another step with the Panthers but the signs of him being a very, very good player were always there, reference this from when he was originally traded to Florida:
It's a little funny. For all the talk of the Panthers being this gritty, tough, old school hockey team analytics likely played a significant role in all these players that suddenly flourished after they joined the team. They've employed Sunny Mehta, widely considered basically the godfather of hockey analytics, since 2020. In that time Reinhart, Forsling, Verhaeghe, Montour even Bennett were all guys that "analytics" pointed to probably being better than they seemed. Not saying that Mehta or analytics deserve all the credit for every single one of them of course but it's hard to ignore that likely impact. Especially as Mehta has since been promoted to an AGM position there.
Somewhat riffing on my last post I wouldn't be surprised if Toronto's current analytics/R&D team sees some upheaval during the offseason. The vast majority of the group has been here for 10+ years now and while it's impossible to know for sure what their impacts have been or what they've maybe suggested that the Leafs didn't or couldn't act on but there's been very little success stories in that time that you could maybe attribute to them. Jake McCabe maybe being the best example possibly.
I was always a little disappointed the team never really threw money at some of the "bigger" names in hockey analytics, like even a Sunny Mehta for instance (or Eric Tulsky before the Canes got him).
I was always a little disappointed the team never really threw money at some of the "bigger" names in hockey analytics, like even a Sunny Mehta for instance (or Eric Tulsky before the Canes got him).
Kaberle15
Well-known member
And one is a game away from a cup repeat in a 32 team league, the other operates in one of the best draft teams in the NHL...
But yeah, losing Marner for nothing sucks.
herman
Well-known member
I can see Robertson doing this