princedpw said:
This is certainly a positive development but how are they going to make a trade work? What are the other teams going to give us for our $6.5 mill 4th liner? Ideas?
Who says other GMs see him as a 4th line player? On a 100-point team he was 5th among forwards in 5-on-5 ice time and 6th in total average ice time and he recorded just under 40 points. In the playoffs he dropped to 8th in ice time per game, but that's still 3rd line minutes.
Much like any potential Zaitsev trade talk, let's remember that GMs don't always see performance like we do. To some GM Zaitsev is a minute-eating top-4 RHD. To some GM Marleau is a middle-6 forward who can put up 40 points and has intangibles coming out his butt. It'll certainly take some salary retention but it wouldn't surprise me to see another GM want him on their team, especially since the Leafs won't be looking for much/anything back in return.