from Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic,

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that the Arizona Coyotes believe the single most important move they can make as an organization is to bring Matthews home. Matthews is the only home-grown player in Arizona history and would be a marquee attraction like no other, not to mention a dominant scorer who still has an upside in his game. Strategically, how could a team manage it? Well, one possibility would be to begin by signing Marner to an offer sheet first and offer a max contract. The Leafs would almost certainly have to match.

If they did, then at that point, the Coyotes could turn around and sign Matthews to a max offer sheet as well. At that point, the Leafs could be boxed into a financial corner, after spending $11-million per season to sign John Tavares away from the New York Islanders and then recently, signing William Nylander to an extension for just under $7-million per season.

Similarly, a team could target Laine and Connor. Laine is showing signs of being a consistent 40-plus goal scorer in the NHL and he doesn’t turn 21 until this coming April.

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