Maple Leafs Rumours – Mitch Marner Free Agency

James Mirtle of The Athletic: Yes, every team in the league is interested in what happens to Mitch Marner. Naturally, the idea is to speculate on what may happen next. There is talk that half the teams in the NHL make sense in some way or another. Even that count may be conservative. There are likely fits. Carolina, Los Angeles, Vegas, and even Utah are very much in the mix here. Ryan Smith can put on a heck of a sell job here. That could drive up the price ultimately, too.

Understand that longer shots will come and go here. Money and fit are vital here with Marner. A team like Anaheim appears intriguing but the Ducks are a Grand Canyon sized leap from contending. Boston and even Detroit have to be placed in here for different reasons. Both have cap space and both probably need to take big swings. However, it would look weird to see Marner in Boston. Arguably, Detroit carries more pressing problems than adding scoring. The Red Wings kill penalties at a rate that would scare anyone.

Tampa Bay would be one of those dream scenarios. However, the Lightning would not have to pull off a level of cap gymnastics never seen before. After that, there are a slew of teams that are not in the running. Finally, for those expecting a reunion with the Toronto Maple Leafs, that is a remote chance of remote chances.

Matt Larkin of The Daily Faceoff: Naturally, there are at least nine or ten teams that Marner could wind up on. However, Toronto is again a single-digit percent chance of recurring. A lot would have to go wrong for Toronto to become Mr. Right again. A team like Vegas does not have the projected cap space to pull such a deal off. Trades would be inevitable and again, would Vegas truly pursue Marner?

Options will get limited to a point. Teams like Los Angeles have to pay their RFA’s first and the space may not be there to sign Marner. Some veteran dollars would have to get moved. This is a common theme. Carolina was rejected once by Marner and does not exactly seem willing to spend that much cash on a player who has as many playoff failures as they do. Then, teams like San Jose, Anaheim, Columbus, and Utah jump into the mix but are longer shots at best.

Does that mean the desirable becomes undesirable fast? Kind of. Finally, do not expect an olive branch from either Toronto or Marner at this point. Just don’t.