The Toronto Maple Leafs will be a team to watch this offseason as they have two of the top free agents available.
Mitch Marner will be the top free agent available on July 1. He’s in the final year of his six-year, $65.41 million deal. NHL insider Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic predicts he signs a seven-year, $94.5 million deal with the Boston Bruins.
“Signing Mitch Marner would give the Bruins the league’s best one-two punch at right wing with Pastrnak. The do-it-all Marner also would follow Pastrnak’s model in that he does not necessarily require a playmaking center to get him the puck,” Shinzawa wrote. “Marner would become a regular on the penalty kill. Even giving the Bruins a possible five-forward power play because of his smarts and coolness up high in the formation. The investment would be worth every cent because of how many areas of the game he touches.”
If Marner leaves the Maple Leafs for the Bruins, it would be a major surprise. Boston is the archrival of Toronto, but the Bruins do have plenty of cap space, as Boston has over $28 million in cap space, and are looking to bring in star players to be more competitive next season.
Marner led the Maple Leafs in points, recording 27 goals and 75 assists for 102 points in 81 games.
Maple Leafs GM Hopeful to Re-Sign Marner
Marner has been one of the best players in the NHL, and he will be highly sought after in free agency.
However, at the trade deadline, the Maple Leafs asked Marner to waive his no-trade clause in a potential deal for Mikko Rantanen. After Marner declined, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving has made it clear he wants to re-sign the star forward.
“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 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.”
Marner has been adamant he isn’t talking about his contract all season as he’s just focused on the playoffs.
“I’m not going to get into this contract stuff. I’ve been very grateful, and I’ve loved my time being a Leaf. That’s (how) I’ll leave it with you guys,” Marner said.
Marner was selected fourth overall in the 2015 NHL Draft.
Bruins Expect to be a Playoff Team Next Season
Boston had a disappointing season last year as they were sellers at the trade deadline.
After missing out on the playoffs, Bruins’ CEO Charlie Jacobs says the goal is to be a playoff team next season.
“We’ve spoken at great length about this,” Jacobs said. “The team we currently have — healthy — with the additions we intend to make this summer, I anticipate we will have a playoff team and play meaningful hockey at this time of year in 2026.”
If Boston is going to be a playoff team next season, the Bruins will likely need to be aggressive in the offseason, and signing Marner would be a step in that direction.
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