Leafs to submit this last offer to Marner

One last trick up their sleeves! Wishful thinking or the best deal there is?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Leafs to submit this last offer to Marner
Zuma Press

While William Nylander may think that Mitch Marner doesn’t need to rush contract negotiations with the Toronto Maple Leafs, fans are thinking the opposite to allow the Canadian team to get this done and move on and focus on improving the roster for next season. 

Marner, who could become a free agent on Monday, is believed to be looking for a contract like the five-year contract with an average annual value of $11.634 million center Auston Matthews signed with Toronto on Feb. 5.

Contract talks had led nowhere - or worse - have led Marner to meet with rival teams in order to get them to tender an offer sheet. If that happens, the Maple Leafs would have to match it to keep him, but GM Kyle Dubas revealed last week that there's no guarantee they would do so.

On Thursday, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that the Maple Leafs might have one last trick up their sleeves to convince Marner to finally sign in Toronto. 

"I think the Leafs are going to offer him 2x8, I think they're going to say, we all believe the cap is going up in 2 years, why don't you sign then when we have more room and the maximum is higher?"

Marner could see this as a good opportunity to get a reasonable bridge deal to cash in even more in two years’ time when the Leafs have more cap space available to get him a massive deal. 

It could be what works out best in the end to prevent Marner from testing the market and teams from coming in with an offer sheet. 

Let’s see if Marner warms up to his idea… 

Source: Sportsnet