Toronto Sports Networks better start working overtime if they want to convince Marner to waive his NMC. I don’t see it happening.
The whole Marner NMC is such a tricky thing for the Leafs situation. Real fly in the ointment.
On the one hand, it just seems so miserable to stay there in that hockey mad market when he's
clearly being painted as THE scapegoat for a decade of failure and playoff futility. At some point, i think just personally, i'd want out if i were him. But at the same time...he's an Ontario kid. He may still see it as a place he wants to play, and with a talent like Matthews centering him.
Especially if it comes down to his agent in his ear. He's only got one year to UFA. So the Leafs don't have any real room to "bluff" that they'd just let him walk for nothing. And it's hard to imagine a situation where Marner would be able to score more points and up his "value" more than just playing another year with Matthews. It's a weird reverse hostage situation.
But if the Leafs can't apply enough pressure and Marner decides he doesn't want out of the now toxic fishbowl, or they can't find a new destination he'd actually accept a trade to...i'm really not sure what the Leafs can even do to "retool" substantially.
Tavares is completely unmovable. Matthews and Nylander are the guys you want to keep and build around.
It probably just becomes a "new coach" situation. Then once again, continue to churn the roster in the bottom-end with low impact pieces and hope for a better result. But who knows. Finding a way to move Marner and convince him that it's in his own best interest as well is really the key to doing
anything meaningful, that won't just look like running it back the same way one more time.