Toronto Maple Leafs: Mitch Marner Rumours Update

The Toronto Maple Leafs are yet to sign Mitch Marner to a new contract.

After waiting until the last possible minute to sign William Nylander last season, the Toronto Maple Leafs are hoping to get Marner signed before training camp.

But will that happen?

The last we heard was that Mitch Marner was threatening to go play in Europe.  Or maybe he was just going on a trip? I’ll be honest: the threat seemed so hollow that I barely paid attention.

Like you’re going to risk your career playing for pennies in some random country just to get an extra million bucks you don’t even technically need?  OK.

Mitch Marner Rumours

So where are we at today?

The main update is that there is no update.  No credible trade or offer sheet rumours at all.  Those Islanders off-sheet rumours a couple weeks ago were laughable and predictably amounted to nothing.

Well, after a thorough search of Twitter I do know one thing:  People are really bad at trying to be funny.  At the best of times memes are extremely lame (think comedy for people who aren’t clever enough for puns) but the Marner attempts fall flatter than ten day old Mountain Dew.

According to recent reports by James Mirtle in the Athletic, Marner wants a five year deal similar to what Matthews got, while the Leafs want to pay him less money than Matthews for eight years.

Marner is not remotely as good as Matthews, so option one is out. (If you think he is, you are wrong. There isn’t a debate to be had here.  2 + 2 is 4 and that is that).

Marner has no incentive to trade away his UFA years if not being massively overpaid, especially when expansion, gambling and TV deals will force the cap way up.

So that is out too.

What we will probably see, most likely the day before training camp starts, is a bridge deal of three years – it’s the obvious compromise.

But it’s not a good one.  A bridge deal will just make him more expensive later.

In my opinion, the best way our for the Toronto Maple Leafs is to give him the Matthews deal, but for eight years.  It’s a compromise that works for both sides.

Marner can say that he gets paid the same as his much better friend and teamate, while the Leafs can say he is technically cheaper, while eventually having the contract turn team friendly.

Yes, it’s a massive overpay for the Leafs, but really, it’s better than a bridge deal and he was never, ever going to sign for what he is actually worth in a market comparison analysis (about $8.5, apparently).

It’s win-win.

The fact remains that trading Marner is a near automatic loss for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and so is signing a bridge deal.  Either way, this is getting old.  The Leafs need to get this done soon.