Should Leafs fans be freaking out about Marner's contract following Matthews' deal?

What do you think this means for Marner's future in Toronto?

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Should Leafs fans be freaking out about Marner's contract following Matthews' deal?
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While the signing is a great news for Toronto, we know Maple Leafs fans are looking at the news that the superstar player Auston Matthews was signed to a five-year, $58.17 million contract extension on Tuesday and starting to panic.

We ask the question: should Leafs fans be freaking out about teammate Mitch Marner's contract following Matthews' deal? After all, the Leafs just gave William Nylander a lucrative deal earlier this season, following the massive contract they gave to John Tavares in free agency this summer. 

They should, right? Are they freaking out about a potential offer sheet on top of that? Oh, come on, let's not go there. Let's focus on the numbers and see if panic is legitimate. 

We can focus on the cap crunch and what Toronto will be facing this summer to keep Marner on the roster, but GM Kyle Dubas has made it clear: he wants to keep Marner and with these four players, the Leafs are doomed to make it to a championship run, right?

What NBC Sports' Adam Gretz reminds us is that the Maple Leafs will not be the only team investing so much in three, four players. Look at last year's Stanley Cup champions in the Washington Capitals or the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

He points out that, sure, some changes will need to be made to the Leafs' roster, however, it can be done. 

"Let’s just say, hypothetically speaking, that Mitch Marner gets $10 million per year on his next contract, which might be a good ballpark figure. It’s more than Nylander, little less than Matthews, and that is probably fair because that is where he fits on the Maple Leafs’ talent hierarchy. That would mean the Maple Leafs would open next season with $39.4 million committed to the quarter of Matthews, Marner, Nylander, and Tavares. If the projected 2019-20 salary cap figure of $83 million becomes a reality, that is around 47 percent of the Maple Leafs’ allotted space."

Winning a Stanley Cup isn't cheap, but Gretz makes it clear that Maple Leafs should calm down about the whole "we might lose Marner" bit. 

After the Matthews signing was completed, Darren Dreger spoke on TSN 1040 about Marner's position and how much he and his agent Darren Ferris could be looking to get. 

"I'm telling you, unless something drastic changes from the Mitch Marner camp, they believe that he shouldn't get a penny less than what Auston Matthews got today from the Maple Leafs."


So, there might be some number crunching to be done... One thing remains clear: Marner will not negotiate his contract during the season, even if teammate Matthews just put his name on the dotted line... 


I guess maybe we will need to wait a little longer before panic can really be out of the equation here...