How do you know Nashville won't re-sign Saros and trade Askarov?

I don't know.

Saros just turned 29.

And Flames fans think they're getting a King's Ransom for 34 year old Markstrom. 🙄

I would start with removing Saros and including pieces Nashville would be interested in trading.

I understand Toronto is foaming at the mouth for a goaltender, Nashville has lots of futures to offer up for a guy like Marner and maybe even JT and they can dangle those for a goaltender from someone else.

2025 draft picks (Toronto is going to have to pay that signing bonus), Schaefer, Wood, Parssinen, Glass, Lauzon, Lind, Prokop, Tomasino. Make yourself a package and go from there.

I'd steer clear of Marner for Saros. We need a #1 center and Marner isn't that. However, if Marner signs an extension under 10 mil, I'd consider if he comes with a 1st and Minten and NSH gives back Pars and Del Gaizo.


I'd keep both. It'd be a fantastic tandem.

I don't see either of those as the course of action yet. The goalie succession plan appears to be coming to fruition.

1 year left on both Saros' & Askarov's contracts. At bare minimum we start the season with both goaltenders and see how it plays out. A year of direct mentorship from Saros will pay off in spades in the long run if nothing else.

Why not?

Take advantage of Askarov's cheap contract.

I know I wouldn’t want to add too much more to saros from this pred fans. Marner may be elite but he also comes with a big price tag. And getting rid of that contract helps Toronto fill more needs on the defense. If they could Marner into saros and say pesce then I think they have a better all around team. I’m hesitant on Marner because will he be able to produce without an elite center

Trotz isn't going to trade Saros for the sake of trading him.

This isn't Barry's Bargain Autos in downtown Toronto.

I believe goalies are undervalued in the trade market. Unfortunately the league doesn't agree with me. The biggest package for a goalie in the last 15 years was Darcy Kuemper which netted (lol) the 32nd overall pick, a D prospect who was a 2nd round pick and close to cracking the league, and a conditional 3rd. The biggest asset ever moved in this time period was the Cory Schneider trade that garnered the 9th overall pick. Looking at those, Kuemper was older and slightly worse stat- wise than Saros is now. Schneider was a year younger at the time of his trade than Saros is now and comparable stat-wise (and situation-wise, as Schneider took over in net for Brodeur just as Saros did for Rinne).

Put all this together: Marner for Saros is an overpay for the Leafs but desperation can play a factor. Both Schneider and Keumper were moved to keep competitive teams from falling off after another great goaltender fell off/ retired (Luongo and Holtby respectively) whereas the Leafs haven't sniffed a G that good in this run. That may convince the Leafs that all they're missing is a true #1 and they can compete.

In reality, the Leafs give up Marner and a mid round pick, they should net Saros, this year's 1st, Cody Glass, a B+ prospect, and potentially take 2-3 million of salary of Marner's cap and get the deal done. Both guys have extensions in place, and both fanbases think they were ripped off. Hilarity ensues, the Leafs make the ECF before being victims of a gentleman's sweep and the Preds miss the playoffs but bounce back the next season.

If Marner signed a contract for 10M he wouldn't have his head on a wanted poster. Not familiar with Nashville's prospects but the guys you mentioned don't really move the needle enough to be added on-top of a 1, a top prospect, and a cusp100 point scorer.

I agree sauros is a stud, but Toronto sees blood irrationality. That's part of why the fan base is so hard to play in. The fans are emotional and irrational. Just because everyone wants Marner out doesn't mean he's not significantly better than sauros.

Problem with keeping both is their ages and contracts don’t mesh well like Rinne and saros’s did. You sign saros to 8 years and you’re blocking askarov till 30 to become a starter because you don’t want to pay for a 8 million dollar back up

I'd say absolutely he can, in truth he is essentially a center that doesn't take draws. He has the defensive capabilities you need in a center and plays with the puck on his stick like a center. No doubt in my mind he would make Forsberg a 50 goal guy

Okay Well take either Saros or Askarov, your pick, if you want to keep both then Zach L'heureux or Moldenyk need to be in the package with a first plus maybe a Tomasino or something.

O’Reilly almost made forsberg a 50 goal scorer. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued but it will depend on the package and contract

Rather give up saros. Nashville is no position to give up thrleit top prospects

It will be a "we're keeping both" scenario. There's plenty of value in the pieces I listed to get the deal done for both sides.

Why would NSH not be interested in trading Saros? You're going to have to pay him a massive raise into his 30s (likely won't age well). Not to mention, you don't even have to solve or worry about goaltending with or without him for the next decade. If you want to run Askarov/Saros for the next 8 years, go for it. Not sure how you'd afford it though.

Making Saros expendable opens up so many possibilities for short and long-term improvement on your team. And you get out of paying him what would be, in my opinion, a very bad contract. Plus, you guys get to keep your late firsts and B/C-level prospects.

That is correct.

We're not going to have to do anything. We can run both goaltenders for the year, or at least until the TDL. Mentoring Askarov with his fulltime transition to the NHL is also something of value for Nashville. Never have I mentioned signing both long term.

1sts are great, icing a competitive team is better. We made playoffs this year, by making additions to the roster and avoiding major subtractions (such as trading away our elite goaltending) we will be in a much better position next year. Would have to imagine the plan would be to make a push while Forsberg/Josi/ROR are still competitive and productive.

Fair enough. I just don't think any kind of Marner trade gets done without giving up Saros. And given that Askarov could be just as good or even better than Saros over the next 2-3 years, it might be a good idea to swap Saros for Marner.

I can see why you'd believe that, but I'm going to agree to disagree. I'm definitely opposed to moving either goalie at this point given that Marner isn't going to guarantee that we get a cup either.

I think everyone thinks they understand the Marner value in trade but realistically this is going to be kind of like a one off. So many variables and conditions involved that its impossible to find a real comparable.

The thing is that Marner would be traded after he's paid his bonus on July 1st, so there is the chance that a lot of the FAs are gone if they can't get a deal finalized quickly. I do think they would work on a framework for a deal beforehand, but I imagine NSH would want to know Marner's expectation for salary as well. Teams can go up to 10% over the cap and the Leafs do have 18.5M cap to work with, so maybe they stall with their own FAs and sign a couple of big names to extend that time. So, with the assumption that the Leafs could take advantage of the cap space and it's Saros getting dealt, I think the cost on top would be minimal like Tomasino (former 1st) and a 2nd or 3rd, possibly other stuff added n the Leafs side.

Marner produced as a rookie with Bozak and JVR and he didn't have an elite center in his 2nd either, 3rd year he got Tavares, but you can see how Tavares benefited as well in the following year reaching a career high in goals. So, the question isn't whether he can produce without an elite C, it's how much will his production potentially drop and if he can produce with the guys NSH has. Almost everyone's totals in NSH over the years have been low for forwards, with the exception of Forsberg but his production is all over. When Duchene came his totals plummeted for example. However, I don't think Trotz is too concerned about that because of Marner's 2-way game. That being said he's probably still looking for a bargain.

If NSH is keeping Saros, then maybe a 3-way trade between the Flames, Leafs, and Preds could be worked out with the futures that Just_A_Guess suggested, personally I think Askarov would be on the table as well but I don't think the Flames or Leafs would want him anyways.

Flames: A ton of futures (mostly from NSH) + Liljegren/Fabbro
Preds: Marner + pick/prospect
Leafs: Markstrom + Andersson + a pick/prospect

Okay but then no player will. Your team isn't rebuilding and isn't winning. You need to do something. Any player above marners talent is a bonafide star and the teams 1a best player. You can afford to pay 1 guy Marner money. You can't afford 4