Brad Marchand turned down a $10 million AAV offer before signing in Florida

The Florida Panthers managed to hold on to pending free agent forward Brad Marchand, signing him to a six-year, $31.5 million deal before he could test the market.

If he had, insider Chris Johnston believes Marchand could have earned $10 million annual average value away from Florida.

“Someone even told me $10m AAV the day before he signed”, said Johnston on his own show.

While Johnston did not reveal which was ready to offer the whooping annual salary to Marchand, a report from James Murphy of RG.org recently recently how the Utah Mammoth was allegedly ready to go all in for Marchand if he hit free agency on Tuesday.

“Utah was ready to beat any offer for Marchand,” an NHL source told RG. “I was told $9.5–10 million cap hit per season. I know Marchand was starting at four years with the Panthers and planned to do the same if he hit the market. So, it had to be at least that if he got there.”

The Mammoth is most likely the team that Johnston was hinting at. Marchand could have double his money, but after winning the Stanley Cup with the Panthers last month, there was a strong feeling that he would want to stay put in Florida.

The Cats als made sure to keep pending free agents Aaron Ekblad and Sam Bennett on their roster. While Marchand could have sought the big payday elsewhere, it is clear that he is glad he turned down a heftier offer to stay in Miami.