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Maple Leafs may 'bite that bullet' on $65,418,000 Mitch Marner's complicated contract talks, opines Mike Rupp
Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner has been involved in trade rumors but no deal has been made yet. The forward is entering the final year of his six-year, $65,418,000 deal.
With Marner having one year left on his deal, he has been the subject of trade rumors, and NHL analyst Mike Rupp believes Toronto may decide to hold onto Marner and use the final year of his contract as their final chance at winning the Stanley Cup with this group.
"It hasn’t worked for you to have that much money tied up in a few amount of players, right. So it’s this really weird spot where it’s the business side of things that is kind of in the spotlight in that city of Toronto. There’s a ton of pressure. So I don’t know what this means for Mitch Marner. I will say, though, that Mitch Marner holds all the cards," Rupp said, via NHLTradeRumors.
"So if he wants to sit there and say hey, I’m gonna play out. He’s a Toronto boy if I want to play this thing out, that’s fine. Is he gonna walk for nothing? Like, I can’t imagine that being the conversation come next summer, but I mean, this is a lot on the line here," he added.
"But the biggest thing for the Leafs is they want to take that next step, and Mitch Marner being a part of it, and some of the other moves they’ve made in this offseason if they could feel like hey, we feel like this is our best chance of winning the Stanley Cup. Maybe it bite that bullet. You got to stay tuned. This one’s really appealing.”
It would be interesting if the Maple Leafs do decide to keep Marner and risk losing him in free agency. But Rupp believes Toronto may have to "bite the bullet" and do just that, as it gives them the best chance of winning.
Mitch Marner wants to remain in Toronto
Despite Mitch Marner being the subject of trade rumors, he has made it clear he wants to remain in Toronto. After the first-round playoff exit, Marner said he wanted to re-sign with Toronto, as they are his hometown team.
“That would be the goal. I’ve expressed my love for this place, this city. Obviously I grew up here. I’ll start thinking about (a contract extension) now and try to figure something out,” Marner said. [via NY Times].
Marner is one of the top players in the NHL, but he is entering the final year of his deal. Last season, Marner recorded 26 goals and 59 assists for 85 points in 69 games.
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