Okay, let’s all take a quick time out.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Now, it’s time for a quick refresher course on how to listen to radio hits and read about them on Twitter when people try to quote, summarize and/or paraphrase them.

Lesson #1: If an insider says things like “I think” or “I assume”, it means he is trying to make an educated guess at best or making shit up for the clikz at worst, not that he

Homework assignment #1:

Step one — read this tweet.

Step two — listen to the radio hit yourself, or if you can’t/won’t, read this full transcription of that whole section of the radio segment, and you tell me if it sounds/reads a lot different than it was presented in that tweet:

McCown: If you’re Mitch Marner and you see this [Karlsson’s new contract], the chances of taking anything that doesn’t start with a 1 is almost non-existant, aren’t they?

Kypreos: For sure. And, just to let you know that the sundae, the chocolate fudge, the whipped cream was Jeff Skinner’s deal in Buffalo. When Marner looks at Karlsson that’s just the cherry on top, so it just doesn’t start with a 1 — it starts with an 11. That’s where it’s at, and that’s why when we heard Kyle Dubas in his exit meeting talking about not making the same mistake of waiting like he did with William Nylander, with Marner... and now we’re going into the draft weekend and we hear nothing but crickets. You know they’re at a stalemate here, that offers were made, offers were not accepted, and now they’re at a crossroad right now on what their next move is. I would assume that the multiple offers that they’ve already presented to Marner will go up between now and possibly the weekend, and if it doesn’t then you start going into July 1st.

McCown: Well if July 1st comes does anyone else offer him a deal?

Kypreos: Well that’s the million dollar question, and you talk to people on the Marner side and they think that’s a real possibility, you talk to people on the Leafs’ side and it’s “I’ll believe it when I see it”. So what do you do now? It’s calling your bluff time, maybe, I think it’s a little too early for calling your bluff time, I think the Leafs will counter again and go a little deeper but after that then they have some really hard decisions...

Lesson #2: Agents and teams will negotiate through the media. They will exaggerate. They will mislead. They will “reportedly” make outrageous claims to help their client make more money as an agent, or to put pressure on a player to accept less money as the team.

Homework assignment #2:  Read this tweet and analyze it based on the whole history of other statements made about Marner or other top RFAs going into this off-season.

If he’s saying this is the kind of thing the Marner camp will say then then he’s likely as correct or accurate as you will find.

But it’s not news. We have been hearing from insiders about Marner’s camp for months, going back to the middle of last season — BASICALLY THE EXACT SECOND MATTHEWS’ NEW CONTRACT WAS ANNOUNCED! — that he was going to demand Matthews’ money and to hell with any other comparable around the league.

(Aside: it’s funny how Kypreos says how Marner is licking his chops at Karlsson or Skinner’s contract, but McKenzie is saying he doesn’t give a shit about any comparable except maybe Matthews.)

All that said, are you worried about what McKenzie said? Do you think that Marner’s camp is making this their hill to die on, and if they don’t get Matthews’ money they’ll tell the Leafs to kick rocks and hold out or sign an offer sheet?

Let’s go through some recent history.

Lesson #3: Players will open negotiations by asking for more than they usually wind up receiving.

Example One:

Remember when Nylander was said to be asking for like $8.5 million per season?

Remember when he signed for $1.5+ million per year LESS than that?

Example Two:

Remember when Marner’s agent made similar statements or threats about his other clients?

Remember how that turned out for them?

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AROUND THE NHL

News on the NHL concussion lawsuit:

Potential salary cap news...

The Lightning re-signed a defenseman:

The Flyers trade for another defenseman:

And they didn’t stop there!

The Rangers might not be done either:

More on the fallout from Winnipeg after the Trouba deal, sounds like they might not be done yet either...

Marner for Ehlers. One for one. DO IT YOU COWARDS!

THE POTATO RISES AGAIN!

The Ducks also poached another Leafs employee:

Things are getting hot and heavy leading into the draft weekend. We’ll see if Marner makes it out still a Leaf or not!

From The Branches