The Toronto Maple Leafs have supposedly set a hard-line at $13M for superstar Mitch Marner.
Auston Matthews and Leon Draisaitl are currently the only two players making over $13M next season and it looks like the Toronto Maple Leafs are not comfortable adding another player to that list.
On TSN's Overdrive this week, Pierre LeBrun said the following: "It really comes down to this: I don't think the Leafs feel that they can or will pay more than $13M (AAV), maybe $12.5M. Is that good enough for Marner?… I think that's the clear line of demarcation, $13 million a year."
The Leafs are projected to have roughly $35M in salary cap available for forwards next year, which means that they can sign Marner to a salary worth $13M, but it would mean the end of either John Tavares or Matthew Knies. As I've written before, I would happily walk away from Tavares versus Knies, most notably because of age and potential from Knies, although Tavares is still performing at a high-level.
Would You Pay Mitch Marner More Than $13 Million? Rumour: The Leafs Won't
Although the Leafs have been amazing in the regular season and Marner is easily a top-10 forward in the NHL, is he worth paying $13M for the next 5-8 years? The team has had zero playoff success with him, but can you really justify walking away from such a talent?
I've battled this for the past few years and feel like I change my mind every year, but I can't see a world where the Leafs walk away from Marner. Although the playoff failures have haunted this team, he's way too talented to walk away from, especially when they have Auston Matthews and William Nylander locked in long-term.
Can the Leafs survive without Marner? Absolutely. They can continue to be a great regular season team, but I would much rather have him on this roster then see him play somewhere else.
When you look back at the team's playoff failures over the years, there have been so many different reasons the Leafs, few, if any of them Marner's fault (though he's never taken over and stepped up either).
The Leafs lost 11 straight games where they could have advanced to the next round, and Marner was on the roster for 10 of those. That is such a flukey set of results it's hard to even really get mad or place blame.
As much as it may drive me nuts to see Nylander, Marner and Matthews all make between $11-13.5M, I would still rather pay top-dollar for them, then not have them. In the NHL, stars help you win, and the most expensive players tend to provide among the best value per dollar spent outside of entry-level deals.
Remember how bad the Leafs used to be? We were cheering on Tyler Bozak and Joffrey Lupul as the saviors not too long ago, so let's pay big money for the player's who derserve it.
$13M-plus is a lot of money for Marner, but if they have to pay it, go for it. It's not my money anyway, so I'd rather see him on the Leafs for another decade, than watch him terrorize the Leafs in a different uniform.