The NHL altered its landscape with the start of free agency on July 1, but the current league’s picture could have been very close to being very different regarding the rosters of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Nashville Predators.
According to former Maple Leafs player and current Toronto Star columnist Nick Kypreos, the Predators were urged to pursue a trade for Mitch Marner instead of ponying up millions upon millions of dollars on free agents.
“Prior to the Predators spending a whack of dough on free agents [Steven] Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei, ex-Leaf Ryan O’Reilly did his very best to convince GM Barry Trotz to make a push and trade for Mitch Marner,” Kypreos reported on July 4.
For context, O’Reilly was a member of the Leafs during the last months of the 2022-23 season. The defenseman signed a four-year, $18 million deal with the Predators on July 1, 2023, as an unrestricted free agent.
A former Stanley Cup champion, O’Reilly was traded from the St. Louis Blues to the Maple Leafs on February 17, 2023. He appeared in 13 regular-season games before skating in 11 more matchups through the 2023 postseason.
Instead of listening to O’Reilly’s suggestion, Predators GM Barry Trotz decided to walk the free-agency route and signed Stamkos, Marchessault, and Skjei instead of completing a trade for Marner in exchange for an undisclosed package.
Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner Controls His Future
One of the biggest challenges the Predators would have faced had they chosen to pursue a trade for Marner was convincing him to accept a move to Nashville.
That has everything to do with the presence of a full No-Move Clause in Marner’s contract, which has been in place since the start of the 2023-24 season and through the end of his deal with Toronto.
It is unknown if Marner would have accepted a trade to Nashville, although O’Reilly might have known in advance he’d be willing to do so, thus making the suggestion to Trotz.
Just a few days before the free-agent market opened, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported on June 26 that Marner would accept a trade to four teams. Pagnotta, however, didn’t reveal or simply didn’t know the names of those franchises.
“There are a few teams, I don’t know the exact number. I believe there are four teams that he would go to,” Pagnotta said on the Leafs Morning Take. “I think there’s a few more, but it all comes down to what Treliving and the staff are going to pull off.”
Marner is about to play through the final season of the seven-year, $65.4 million contract he signed with the Leafs in 2019. He scored 85 points in 69 regular-season games last season, appearing in seven postseason matchups and putting up 3 points.
Predators Huge Free-Agency Splash
If Marner had not baked a full NMC in his contract, it’s fair to assume a trade could have materialized. That makes even more sense considering the Predators’ moves during the first hours of the free agency period.
Just on July 1, Nashville signed the trio of Stamkos, Marchessault, and Brady Skjei for a combined $108.5 million in total value, according to Spotrac.
Two of those three newcomers, Stamkos and Marchessault, are coming to reinforce a forward corps that could have similarly featured Marner.
Stamkos will earn $8 million annually for the next four seasons while Marchessault signed a five-year deal at an AAV of $5.5 million.
On top of everything, one of the potential players that Nashville could have sent to Toronto in a possible trade scenario, Juuse Saros, also signed a long-term deal with the franchise before free agency.
The Predators made the official announcement on July 1, the first day the netminder could sign such a contract extension.
Saros is still under contract through the 2024-25 season with a cap hit of $5 million in the final year of his current deal. Once the extension kicks in at the start of the 2025-26 season, Saros will earn $7.74 million per season for eight consecutive years.
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