With the restricted free agency frenzy having Mitch Marner as it’s mascot, it’s not surprising to hear the Montreal Canadiens have reached out to his camp.
If you talk to any NHL fan or take a spree amongst hockey social media platforms, there’s one commonality. The word ‘offer sheet’ is always linked to Mitch Marner who has been giving the Toronto Maple Leafs waves of frustration since the offseason began. The Montreal Canadiens could easily be one of those teams who send an offer his way given the luxury of cap space they have to deal with.
There are, however, some things that come in the way of that. First being his ask. Apparently, Mitch Marner isn’t interested in signing a long-term contract as Elliotte Friedman shared his belief in a 7-8 year deal worth $11 million wouldn’t cut it. At the same time, Darren Dreger has been spreading a lot of Marner-Darren Ferris tidbits where some believe his ask is around the $13-$14 million mark.
Crazy right? But even still, when you have a player of Marner’s talents “available” a general manager has to do their due diligence and see what the situation is. That’s why it isn’t surprising to hear that the Montreal Canadiens have reached out to Mitch Marner.
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You have to. Marner set a career high with 26 goals and 68 assists for a total of 94 points. He quarterbacked the Leafs top power play unit usually being the last person to dish the puck out to the goal scorer. The chemistry he created with John Tavares was also an asset to Toronto’s offence making them one of the most dangerous 5v5 scoring teams.
But the money Marner is asking for is putting the Leafs and the rest of the league in a tailspin. A lot of the other top RFAs such as Patrik Laine, Matthew Tkachuk, and Mikko Rantanen are waiting to see what Marner gets. Regardless of his ask, goals are a premium in the NHL, and if Marner makes $10 million or higher, Laine will be eager to get something more from the Winnipeg Jets.
Going back to the Montreal Canadiens, it’s not surprising to hear they’ve contacted Marner. This comes from Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period who also said the Habs are one of 10-12 teams to do so.
Does this mean anything if true? Not really. Marc Bergevin is doing his job in contacting Mitch Marner and seeing what the asking price is. But it seems like for the Montreal Canadiens, or any other team, to get Marner signed, it’ll have to be at a price that would warrant the four first-round pick compensation.
That is extremely risky. Parity in the NHL is as high as ever and you never know what can happen within that time span. Additionally, the Montreal Canadiens will be facing some contract disputes of their own soon enough and it wouldn’t be ideal to have that kind of cloud over them.
It’ll be interesting to see how the rest of this Mitch Marner situation plays out. I don’t expect the Montreal Canadiens to be a major player in the battle when the final teams get down to business, but crazier things have happened.