Maple Leafs Reportedly Have Multiple Concerns About Re-Signing Mitch Marner
Mitch Marner is up for a new contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, although his salary demands are certainly making it difficult for the franchise to proceed.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have to pay a lot of players this offseason, and perhaps their biggest fish to fry is none other than Mitch Marner.
Of course, John Tavares and Matthew Knies also need new deals, but their leading scorer is at the top of Brad Treliving's to-do list right now.
Is Mitch Marner signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs
According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, the Maple Leafs will have a ton of cap space for these three players.
However, he also notes that the Maple Leafs currently have some reservations about their star forward. At the end of the day, $14 million per year is a hard pill to swallow.
Whether they want to give Marner more than $13 million per year is unclear.
Marner loves Toronto, make no mistake about that. He wants to be a Maple Leaf for life. But he also wants to get paid.
If Rantanen's in the $14 million AAV neighbourhood, Marner isn't far behind. Especially if Rantanen signs with the Hurricanes and Marner is the top free agent entering July 1.
Moreover, it would appear as though Treliving is waiting to see what happens over the course of the next month.
If the GM sees the writing on the wall, he may swing for the fences and do to Marner what the Colorado Avalanche did to Mikko Rantanen.
If there is even the slightest amount of doubt, though, now might be the time to go for it as their window may start to close if they lose a 100-point calibre player for nothing.
This is not an envious position for any management team. There is a lot of risk, no matter the direction Treliving takes.
The next 27 days could paint a clearer picture of the franchise's immediate and future success, and a lot may ride on Marner's ultimate decision.
Marner is having a career year with the Maple Leafs this season as he has a total of 71 points in 54 games.
Having said that, it is hard to believe the franchise would part ways with him. No matter what, things are going to get very interesting.
