Could the Montreal Canadiens have an upcoming Mitch Marner situation?

Focus has been on the Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch Marner, but with Darren Ferris as Victor Mete’s agent, the Montreal Canadiens may have a cloud coming.

Every year talk of offer sheets makes it’s way to the upper shelves of the NHL’s interest list. But as fate would have it time and time again, offer sheets end up being something talked about and never actually happening. Many thought this summer would be different with the number of marque restricted free agents in Patrik Laine, Brayden Point, and Mikko Rantanen, but Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs has peddled that narrative the furthest. And that comes off the hands of his agent Darren Ferris.

In most situations, what the Leafs are doing should have absolutley no consequence to the Montreal Canadiens. The last time the two teams connected for a transaction was the trade deadline of 2018 where Tomas Plekanec switched sides in exchange for Kerby Rychel, Rinat Valiev, and a second-round pick.

Some fans have been hoping the Montreal Canadiens swoop in and offer sheet Marner themselves, but the compensation, as well as the “gentleman’s agreement” between general managers won’t have that happen. The kind of money Marner is seeking (apparently using Auston Matthews as a contract comparable) would surely have any team have to pay the four first-round pick compensation.

Marner could get just below that where the compensation would only be a first, second, and third, but it doesn’t seem as if he’d be willing to leave the Leafs if the number didn’t start with 11. At the same time, no general manager wants to start a domino effect, and the Montreal Canadiens wouldn’t want to get in that kind of mess with the prospects they have coming up.

But there is possibly a similar storm coming for the Habs, and that’s not because of Jesperi Kotkaniemi or Ryan Poehling. The issue lies with Darren Ferris.