New York Islanders Daily: Toronto Maple Leafs Offer Sheet Question

Will New York Islanders General Manager, Lou Lamoriello, have the guts to take advantage and Offer Sheet someone on the Toronto Maple Leafs?

Every Wednesday night, we do a Mailbag Podcast for our Patreon supporters. We answer New York Islanders questions and have some fun along the way if it’s something you’re interested in you can subscribe right here.

One of the questions we received was pertaining to Offer Sheets. We get those a lot, but this one caught my attention. The question from Jake Silverman was:

"Last week you talked about the idea of offer sheeting Marner. As great of a player he is it seems unreasonable to give 4 1st rounders to get him. If the leafs sign Marner to a 10+ million deal they won’t have enough to give the other RFAs what the want. Kapanen and Johnson have been great this season and I could see them being great additions to the team. I imagine that a 4-5 million offer sheet would be too much for the leafs to match on each and would only cost a 2nd rounder (I think). What are your thoughts on offer sheeting either of these players and would Lou do it."

I love this question. Yes, giving up four first rounders for Mitch Marner is completely unreasonable. Although, if the Leafs somehow figure out how to give him a $10 million AAV contract the two guys he mentioned, Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson, would become vulnerable.

All three of Marner, Kapanen, and Johnson are RFA’s this offseason. How Kyle Dubas is able to fit all of them under the cap would be nothing short of a magic trick. So using Cap Friendly’s Offer Sheet Calculator, let’s look at the compensation for Toronto if Lou actually attempted this.

If either of the two guys was offered between $2,029,660- $4,059,322 the compensation would be one second round pick. If you’re between $4,059,323 – $6,088,980 the compensation becomes a first and a third-round pick.

Ideally, you’d rather give up the one second, so maybe something with an even $4 million AAV makes sense. Of Kapanen and Johnson, I’m more interested in Kapanen. Johnson is two years, older (24), and in his first NHL season, he has 30 points in 50 games which is a pace of 49 points.

Kapanen, on the other hand, is 22, and in his first full year in the league, he has 34 points in 56 games. That’s a pace of 50 points over a full season. Yes, they’re nearly identically production-wise this year but I think Kapanen has the higher ceiling and since he’s younger I’d be more inclined to give him a shot.

While it’s unlikely that Lou Lamoriello does this, it’s still an interesting thought and it sparked a great conversation that you can listen to on our Patreon.

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