
The Toronto Maple Leafs are officially moving on from Mitch Marner, allowing the winger to enter NHL free agency as the most coveted player available. With a bidding war looming, a few top potential landing spots seem to be emerging.
The Athletic‘s Pierre LeBrun wrote that he believes the Vegas Golden Knights, Dallas Stars and Los Angeles Kings are among the teams that are high on Marner’s list in free agency. However, Dallas is a considerable long shot following the Mikko Rantanen deal.
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- Mitch Marner stats: 102 points (75 assists, 27 goals), +18 plus/minus, 6 power-play goals, 7 game-winning goals, 15.6% shooting rate, 4 blocks, 49 hits, 56 takeaways, 106 giveaways
Marner, age 28, is coming off the first 100-point season of his career. He set a career high in assists last season, while tying his personal best for power-play assists (27) in the regular season. With the NHL salary cap going up, estimates have him receiving numerous multi-year offers worth in the range of $12 million-plus per year.
Vegas and Los Angeles have been linked to Marner for weeks. The Kings do have more cap space ($21.71 million) than the Golden Knights ($9.62 million) right now, per PuckPedia. However, Vegas has repeatedly found ways to create cap room. One such move for the club could be placing Alex Pietrangelo on long-term injured reserve.
Related: Insider reveals historic Mitch Marner contract offer West team might make
While Marner could pursue a much longer contract, receiving added long-term security, LeBrun also theorized that a short-term deal could be an option. In that case, it would mean signing a two-year deal with Los Angeles or Vegas worth up to $113 million per season. In doing so, he could test NHL free agency again when the cap jumps to $113 million in three years.
The Anaheim Ducks, Utah Mammoth and Carolina Hurricanes have also been linked as potential landing spots for Marner. For now, though, the Kings and Golden Knights seem to be the co-favorites.
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