Leon Draisaitl contract extension only helps Marner's negotiations

Mitch Marner should be a very happy person today since the Edmonton Oilers just signed Leon Draisaitl to an eight-year contract extension worth $14M AAV.

Don't get me wrong, Leon Draisaitl is a world-class talent, but at the end of the day, he's the second best player on his team, but is now the highest paid player in the NHL. As the second best player on the Toronto Maple Leafs, Marner should be demanding a huge contract.

Auston Matthews signed a deal worth $13.25M AAV last offseason, so Marner shouldn't be expecting his salary, but how much less worthy is he than Draisaitl? The former No. 3 overall pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft has a Hart Trophy and Art Ross Trophy on his shelf, so he's a much more decorated player, but how far apart are they?

If you put Marner on the Oilers playing alongside Connor McDavid, I could see a world where he scores 40-plus goals and registers 120 points. However, if you put Draisaitl on the Leafs, is he doing better or worse than what his stats suggest? I know he doesn't play alongside McDavid every shift but they play together more than enough that he clearly gets the McDavid bump, especially as those two dominate the power-play together.

Leon Draisaitl contract extension only helps Marner's negotiations

When the Leafs waited on William Nylander's contract extension last year, it cost them tremendously. Everyone thought there was no way he would sign a double-digt contract, then all of a sudden he signed one for $11M AAV. If you would've asked any Leafs fan last offseason, they would have thought an $9M x 8 year deal was a perfect one, but instead, they cost themselves more money by letting him play.

The same logic applies to Marner, as his dollar-value can only go up. With more players signing and pushing that highest-paid player amount up, Marner's only going to get more valuable. He's never scored 40 goals or scored 100 points, but what if he hits that mark this year? He'll all of a sudden go from a $10.93M AAV player to a $13M AAV player overnight.

Why can't Marner fight for a Hart Trophy this year, like Draisaitl did in the past? If things go his way, he has all the skill in the world to be one of the top-three player's in the NHL next season.

All I'm trying to say is that Marner has done more than enough in his career for the Leafs to justify signing him long-term, so why wait? Personally, if he signed for eight more years at $11.5M right now, I think both sides would be happy, but the longer it drags out, the more Marner will benefit financially.

The Leafs cannot justify paying Marner any more than they need to and they should learn from their mistakes by signing him now, instead of waiting any longer.