The Toronto Maple Leafs were not going to trade Mitch Marner anyways, but now they can't.
After the Colorado Avalanche botched a trade for Mikko Rantanen (the return they recieved isn't even worth half of what Rantanen provides) there is no way the Toronto Maple Leafs can consider a Marner trade.
The return for Rantanen borders on a joke, and there is no way the Leafs could take such a bad package for Marner.
Overpaying Marner is vastly preferable to trading a franchise player for a second-liner, a fourth liner and two nothing draft picks.
Toronto Maple Leafs Now Have No Leverage
Any leverage the Leafs had in negotiations is now gone. This is why Treliving's plan to punt this decision down the road was so dangerious. Now that a similar player has set the market, Treliving has been backed into a corner.
The Leafs can now take pennies on the dollar for the second-best player in the history of their franchise, or they can overpay him.
It's not even a choice.
Mitch Marner can't leave for nothing and he can't be traded. Hope you guys like a number in the $13 million range, and if you don't, blame Treliving who could have gotten it done earlier for less.
How about a round of applause for the Carolina Hurricanes though? Already the best team in the NHL statistically, they have added the best player possible and it barely cost them anything.
Martin Necas is a good player who is brutal defensively, but who can score. His value according to the Athletic, which assigns a number that encompasses a players entire value is + 8, Marner's is +20 and Rantanen's is +17.
Martin Necas value is equal to what Jake McCabe has provided the Leafs so far this year, which is very good, but it's still less than half of what Franchise Players are bringing to the table and not even a third of what the MVP level players are doing. For perspective, the best player in the NHL this year is Leon Draisaitl with a +32 rating.
Clearly this is a huge win for Carolina and a horrible move for Colorado. If the Leafs did this, there would be a riot, so they can't do it. The only option left now is to re-sign Marner for whatever he wants.
As for Carolina, they get an A+ for this move, Colorado gets an F and Chicago doesn't even get a grade because I can't figure out what the hell they were even thinking trading a player and $4.5 million in salary retention for only a 3rd.