The biggest transaction of the NHL offseason teased hockey fans with the potential line pairing of two of the league’s top stars.
But could it end up being a short-lived scenario?
On June 30, the day before the opening of the free agency period, the Vegas Golden Knights completed a sign-and-trade agreement that brought them forward Mitch Marner. After the 28-year-old pending free agent agreed to an eight-year, $96 million contract, he was dealt by the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for veteran forward Nicolas Roy.
Whispers of a potential trade had been growing louder, and once the smoke cleared, the league-wide perception was generally positive. Vegas, in its desire to once again capture the Stanley Cup, committed a lot of money to an elite playmaker and highly coveted two-way player who in his nine seasons with Toronto had averaged over a point per game. The No. 4 overall pick in 2015, Marner has eclipsed the 90-point mark four times, reaching a career high last season with 102 points (27 goals, 75 assists) in 81 games.
With the acquisition, Vegas has the opportunity to field a top line consisting of two of the NHL’s top players at their respective positions. In an ongoing series highlighting its choices of the league’s best, the NHL Network recently ranked Marner as the No. 5 winger, while Golden Knights center Jack Eichel was listed No. 6 among the top centers.
Pairing Mitch Marner With Jack Eichel Could Cause an Offensive Explosion in Vegas
It’s enough to have Golden Knights fans dancing giddily up and down the Vegas Strip with dreams of nightly highlight-reel goals and league-leading offensive exploits. Not entirely dissimilar to what Toronto followers enjoyed with the pairing of Marner and Auston Matthews.
But somebody may want to remind Vegas fan base of how that turned out. Because in a bit of an unfortunate twist, the deal that brought these two superstars together could ultimately be what forces them to be separated a year from now.
For the latest edition of Daily Faceoff’s NHL Mailbag, league analyst Anthony Di Marco was asked which of the pending unrestricted free agents for 2026 he “realistically” believes will enter the open market. In what may feel like a gut punch to the residents of Sin City, Di Marco pinpointed Eichel, citing Marner’s contract as the potential hindrance that makes Eichel too expensive for the Golden Knights to keep.
“Eventually something is going to have to give in Vegas,” Di Marco opined. “Yes, Eichel likely isn’t the guy the Knights eventually bring the hammer down on, but after signing Mitch Marner to a major contract with an AAV of $12 million, can they really afford to hand out a major deal to another forward? With the rising salary cap, there is reason to believe that Eichel’s AAV could soar past the $12.6 million benchmark the Colorado Avalanche set with Nathan MacKinnon, which has since been exceeded by the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Auston Matthews and Edmonton Oilers‘ Leon Draisaitl as fellow centers.”
Mitch Marner’s Contract Could Restrict Vegas’ Ability to Resign Jack Eichel
Eichel’s current deal, a $10 million AAV pact that he signed with the Buffalo Sabres back in 2017, runs through the end of the 2025-26 season. By then, he’ll be 29 years old — squarely in his prime, armed with a Stanley Cup ring, and poised to test the open market for the first time in his career. If the Golden Knights want to keep him, they’ll almost certainly have to break the bank, with projections suggesting Eichel could command an annual paycheck of up to $14 million.
With that kind of number, it’s not hard to see how Eichel could price himself out of the desert. The irony, of course, is that Vegas finally found the kind of elite running mate that Eichel hadn’t truly had since his college days at Boston University, only to risk losing him because of that very move.
Marner and Eichel have the makings of a terrifying duo, the sort of pairing that can tilt a series in May or June with just a couple of shifts. And yet, if Di Marco is right, this could be more a one-act performance than a long-running show.
Of course, Vegas fans don’t want to hear it now, not while visions of no-look passes and one-timer goals dance through their heads, but the clock is already ticking. Jack Eichel may be the biggest star in the franchise’s short history — and the one who finally brought a Cup to the Strip — but thanks to Mitch Marner’s monster payday, his long-term future in Vegas is anything but secure.
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