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There isn’t much to link on the captain as the injury keeping him out of the World’s final isn’t being released. This does not do much for the side of the fandom that doesn’t want NHL players in international play (including Olympics). Before the upcoming games, I was pretty firmly against sending NHL players over because of injury. Unfortunately, the need to refresh the brand (and the Olympics) has made a perfect storm for players to get their wish. Any team that loses an important player during the league shutdown for those games will not be happy.
On the plus side, Trey Augustine is getting an international chance to shine. After a big year at MSU, this is a great opportunity. There’s also a part of me that wonders if the organization is looking at the possibility of trying to get Trey to turn pro earlier than initially planned. Only time will tell.
As the hockey world responds to Toronto’s exit last night (loudly responds) I’ve now seen at least 4 videos regarding the trade of Mitch Marner. Fans are frothing for it, and “the end of the core 4” era is being chanted. Unfortunately, there’s a problem.
A Quick Look at cap friendly tells the story. The contracts for Matthews, Nylander, Tavares and Marner were referred to as “untradeable” years ago. At the time, there wasn’t really a thought of a stalled cap and certainly not a thought that year 6 of Tavares would end with only 1 trip past the first round of the playoffs for that group. If that line had been published as the likely outcome it would have been destroyed.
The “untradeable” remark comes from the structure of the deals. Less than 1 million in salary during the year and the rest is in bonuses. Once that bonus is paid this year, you have an AAV for Marner of 10.9 but an actual salary of 775k in season after a 7.2m signing bonus plus No Movement protection.
So, this is a lot more about cap space and perceived value than in salary. Part of the perceived value is the ability to re sign the player. This is where the deep divers can chime in. Unless I’m mistaken, after the bonus the Leafs can only retain on the 775k, not 50% of the AAV. That would mean a team would have to step up before the bonus was paid, Mitch would have to agree to a deal and everything get settled to lower the AAV for the receiving team.
At the end of the game yesterday, the GMs around the league that aren’t in the playoffs may have put on their vulture gear to see who is up against the cap and has an almost desperate need for available cap space. No one is mentioning the projected space for Toronto (around 10m with 13 players signed). Instead, Vegas is the focus of the evil team that used LTIR to go way over the cap in the post season. Both Tampa and Toronto had higher salary numbers than Las Vegas. They’re all guilty of it, but Vegas is the one being called out. Tampa was able to win a cup keeping Kucherov on LTIR until the magic healing after the cap was lifted. Teams are doing it every year.
So, in the end, the question is this. You’re a GM, and you see what Toronto is up against. The team could very well take a bad deal and put the player on waivers with purpose to reassign them hoping they get picked up or refuse to report. Now look at your bad deals. Copp. Holl. Husso. There are more than a few in there. Is there ANY circumstance you make a deal for Marner IF he’s willing to come to Detroit? This is a debate that could have some interesting twists.
Detroit Red Wings Blogger • 
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