Current Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner seems like a perfect addition for the San Jose Sharks next season.
It's no secret that the Toronto Maple Leafs want to re-sign Mitch Marner, so why hasn't this happened yet? If you're Marner, and you love Toronto, are you really risking the possibility of going somewhere you hate versus being apart of Legends Row in 10 years?
Whether you make $10 per year or $100,000,000 per year, you always want to maximize your worth, so I can understand the negotiation process with Marner, but it's shocking that he wants to drag this on. His teammates Auston Matthews and William Nylander signed well before the deadline, making the fanbase fall in-love with them even more, but when it comes to Marner, it looks like we'll be waiting until July 1st.
If this waits until July 1st, I think Marner would be crazy not to take meetings with other teams to see what's out there, and I think the Sharks could be a fantastic option for him. We all know that Marner is great friends with Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, so their wisdom could be something that brings Marner the west coast.
Even if Marner re-signs in Toronto, he will never be "the man" of this team until Matthews leaves. He'll always be the Robin to his Batman and signing in San Jose could give him that freedom to be the King of the castle, without the media scrutiny. For a kid who's local to Toronto and that's all he's seen, how awesome would it be to go to the rink every day and only worrry about one reporter versus 100?
You can surf in the morning, live without anybody knowing your name and still put up 100 points a year as an All-Star. Not only that, but the Sharks are building a soon-to-be winning culture and Marner's services would go a long way to speeding up that rebuild.
Mitch Marner would be a perfect addition for the San Jose Sharks
Macklin Celebrini seems like a future superstar and adding Marner could make their first-line deadly. Pair that with another top-pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft and the Sharks could be back to a regular playoff team sooner-than-later.
The Sharks have $40M in cap-space next year and have the ability to sign Marner to a monster deal, arguably higher than what Toronto would be offering. He could start a new legacy and build upon something in San Jose, getting as far away from the Leafs as possible, which is probably what he wants.
When it comes to his next adventure, Marner really only needs to value two things: money and legacy. If he wants the most amount of money and to get away from the spotlight, he can join San Jose and move on. However, if he wants to change the narrative and spend his career trying to bring a Stanley Cup home to Toronto, then he should take any deal the Leafs offer.
Letting Marner walk would be among the biggest failures in the history of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but there would be lots of competition.