Despite the seemingly endless heatwave overtaking Toronto, nothing seems to be hotter or more exhausting right now than the Mitch Marner rumour mill. And just like the city in this record-breaking humidity, Marner has found himself in a sticky situation with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and looks all but set to walk come July 1st.
With that, speculation has run wild about where the 28-year-old may be headed next. NHL reporter Andy Strickland popped by Leafs Morning Take to chat with Nick Alberga and Carter Hutton on Tuesday to talk about Marner’s next market, pointing to the Vegas Golden Knights as perhaps the leading contenders.
“It just feels like it’s the most Vegas thing, doesn’t it?” Strickland said, of the Golden Knights’ propensity to chase the top available talent in free agency.
Golden Knights defenceman Alex Pietrangelo has been a question mark for the team when it comes to his health, with the possibility of putting him and his $8.8 million contract on LTIR if he is unable to play. Strickland reports that he’s hearing that Pietrangelo won’t be playing, freeing up a lot of extra cash for the Golden Knights to throw in Marner’s direction.
Strickland spoke about his belief that Marner is headed West. With that, he pointed to one other franchise he sees as a leading contender to make a run at the pending free agent.
“I think Anaheim is the other team that can really sneak up and grab a guy like Mitch Marner,” he said. “I think Joel Quenneville’s got a lot of juice there in terms of his ability to recruit. You’ve got some other players too. It’d be a comfortable spot for a guy like Mitch, when you talk about going from Toronto to Anaheim. They’re an up-and-coming team, they’re trying to build.”
While the Ducks aren’t a team that’s a contender yet, they are quickly building something strong, with Marner having an opportunity to help get them there. If the rumours are true that he wants a complete fresh start in a market very different from Toronto, it’s hard to get further away than Southern California.
Meanwhile, while some Leafs fans have been hoping to see Toronto poach 2025 Conn Smythe winner Sam Bennett from the Florida Panthers, Strickland poured water on that flame. Not only did he say that re-signing the pending UFA is Florida’s “number-one priority,” but added there isn’t much weight to the speculation that the Ontario native would head north of the border if he were to test free agency.
“I don’t think he had his eye on any Canadian teams, to be honest with you,” Strickland said. “That was never really something that he was looking to explore, from what I understand, to get to free agency and end up being in Canada. But I can tell you, Toronto was never a team that he was gonna go to.”
Bennett would have been a welcome addition to the Maple Leafs, both removing a pesky foe who has tormented them for years in the playoffs, and adding that always sought after toughness for those lost postseason stretches. But now it’s looking like that may have been more dream than reality.
“I think sometimes we get caught up in not understanding that there are a lot of other options for these players nowadays to go live and play elsewhere, and not deal with the extracurricular that you’re gonna have to deal with,” Strickland continued. “Listen, Toronto’s great. If you’re winning, I’m sure it’s a great situation. If you’re a star player, it’s a great situation. Until it’s not. When you can’t get it done in the playoffs, you’re taking a lot of heat, you’re taking some criticism, that’s not for everybody.”
Setting aside the fact that we’re all getting a little tired of the whole Toronto is too tough a fanbase on it’s players narrative, it does seem like Bennett is primed to re-sign in Sunrise. And with Marner seeming ready to walk on July 1st, the Leafs will have have to get creative next week as they look to retool their top six headed into next season.