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Toronto Maple Leafs: Rumour of a 3 Year Marner Deal “On the Table”

By James Tanner

TORONTO, ON - APRIL 25: Mitch Marner speaks to the media in the locker room. The Toronto Maple Leafs had their final interviews and locker clean out day on Thursday following their loss to the Boston Bruins. Players came out to speak to the media as did the GM and Head coach. (Richard Lautens/Toronto Star via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - APRIL 25: Mitch Marner speaks to the media in the locker room. The Toronto Maple Leafs had their final interviews and locker clean out day on Thursday following their loss to the Boston Bruins. Players came out to speak to the media as did the GM and Head coach. (Richard Lautens/Toronto Star via Getty Images) /
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The never ending Mitch Marner vs Toronto Maple Leafs saga continues.

With Auston Matthews and William Nylander locked into long-term deals, the Toronto Maple Leafs just need to lock up Marner and they’ll have succeeded in keeping their “Big Three” intact.

While the never ending will-they-or-won’t they is approaching Ross and Rachel proportions, the upside is that, eventually, the Leafs will have done something hardly anyone thought they could pull off:

Signing all three players without resorting to trading one.

Nevertheless, it is September, the season is about to get underway in less than a month, and the Leafs third-best player is still without a contract.

But maybe there is hope of a deal…

Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch Marner

According to Elliotte Friedman, the Leafs do have a three-year offer on the table.

Now depending on who you listen to, this deal may or may not be for $9.5 million annually.

That is a horrendous deal.

I’ve suggested that the Leafs just “shut up and pay Marner” because he’s really good, and he’s a hometown kid, and they need him.

They’ve got a real chance to win the Stanley Cup, and putting that at risk to save a small amount of money seems foolish.  Especially since, as long as you don’t overpay for your mid-tier players, you can get away with slightly overpaying your elite ones, if you have to.

But $9.5 on just three years?

That is a drastic overpay so absurd it’s hard to believe it’s even real.

Mitch Marner might be worth $2.5 more than William Nylander, maybe, if he signed for the full eight years (Nylander is only signed for six).

But on a three year deal?

That’s crazy.

It is sensible to overpay for a player if you think that, as time goes by, as the cap goes up, he’ll be locked in at a price that his worth will eventually exceed.

If the Leafs sign Marner for $11 million over six or eight years, it’s an overpay, but at least there’s a chance it turns into a team-friendly number as time goes by.

But $9.5 for three years?  The Leafs would be overpaying, but not getting any term back in exchange.  It’s a terrible deal.

Nikita Kucherov – who is better than Marner, and likely always will be – is signed for $9.5 over eight years, on a deal that hasn’t even kicked in yet.

If Marner want’s a little more to sign for eight years, give it to him – he is younger.  But paying him as Kucherov’s equal for just three years seems stupid.

If the Toronto Maple Leafs and Marner are really considering a bridge deal, hopefully it’s for a dollar amount that is quite a bit more team friendly.

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