Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Mitch Marner will be the top free agent available, and many teams will be interested in him.
Toronto will look to re-sign him, but if he leaves, the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks have been two notable teams linked to him. However, NHL insider Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic links Marner to the St. Louis Blues, which would be a surprising landing spot.
“Marner would be an incredible fit for the Blues. He’d have to change his number because No. 16 is in the rafters at Enterprise Center,” Rutherford wrote. “But as I’ve written before, Marner playing alongside Thomas, his old junior teammate, might lead to some magic like back in the day with Brett Hull.
“The issue is Marner is going to get paid. He will be the premier UFA this offseason if unsigned by the Leafs. And the cost could be $14 million AAV. Could the Blues afford the winger, who turns 28 in May? He’d be quite the addition, but it takes two parties. If he’s somehow interested, they would have to be,” Rutherford added.
As Rutherford writes, he believes Marner reuniting with his junior teammate in Thomas could entice the star forward to sign with the Blues.
Marner is in the final year of his six-year, $65.41 million deal. This season with the Maple Leafs, he’s recorded 26 goals and 73 assists for 99 points in 79 games.
Maple Leafs GM Hopes to Re-Sign Marner
Ahead of the offseason, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving has made it clear he wants to keep Marner past this season.
Although Toronto asked Marner to waive his no-trade clause, Treliving says they want to keep Marner with the Maple Leafs for a long time.
“We’re aligned with Mitch, we’re worried about this season. We’re worried about the games we have coming up. We want Mitch here for a long time,” Treliving said after the trade deadline. “It’s not a distraction, but like I said we think the world of him. But, it’s just not a question we’re going to get into every day.”
Whether or not the Maple Leafs will be able to get a long-term deal done with Marner is to be seen. He’s been a member of the Maple Leafs organization since being drafted fourth overall in the 2015 NHL Draft.
Marner Not Talking Contract
Throughout the NHL season, Marner has made it clear he isn’t focused on his contract. Instead, he just wants to play hockey.
Marner says his goal this entire season was to help Toronto win. So, ahead of the playoffs, that hasn’t changed as he still isn’t negotiating a new deal.
“Like I talked to you guys, man, I’m not gonna get into any of this contract stuff,” Marner said. “I’ve been very grateful, and I’ve loved my time being a Leaf. So, I’ll leave it with you guys. And we got 20 games left here that aren’t going to be easy. We got to make sure we just keep our foot down on the gas here and give ourselves the best position to go into playoffs.”
Marner is a three-time NHL All-Star.
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