NHL analyst Paul Bissonnette believes the Toronto Maple Leafs could look at a rival player to replace Mitch Marner if he leaves in free agency.
Marner is in the final year of his six-year $65.41 million deal and his future with the team is in doubt. Many expect him to test free agency, and if he leaves, Bissonnette thinks the Maple Leafs could replace him with Florida Panthers star Sam Bennett.
“I would say I’m about 50-50 and it has everything to do with his playoff production. There’s also rumblings out there that Toronto is very interested in Sam Bennett,” Bissonnette said on NHL on TNT. “Let’s see if Florida is able to maybe lock him in before the end of the season, but that’s a rumor mill, let’s not even go down that road.”
Bennett is in the final year of a four-year $17.7 million deal with the Panthers. If Marner does leave the Maple Leafs, which Bissonnette thinks is a 50-50 chance, he believes Toronto would look to sign Bennett to replace Marner.
Bennett would likely get less money than Marner, which would allow Toronto to spend money to improve their team in different areas. But, whether or not Bennett or Marner will end up hitting the open market is to be seen.
Marner has recorded 21 goals and 58 assists for 79 points this season while Bennett has 20 goals and 21 assists for 41 points.
Maple Leafs GM Wants to Keep Marner
Marner is playing out the final year of his contract, but Toronto asked him to move his no-trade clause in a potential deal for Mikko Rantanen.
Marner declined to waive his no-trade clause, and despite him being involved in trade rumors, Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving says they want to keep the star forward.
“We want Mitch here for a long time,” Treliving said. “It’s not a distraction. But I said, we think the world of Mitch. But it’s just not a question we’re going to get into every day. We’ve dealt with it here. We move forward. We want Mitch. We’re all focused on the next 19 (games) to go. So I just wanted to come and address you on it so you don’t have to track me down, and we’ll move on, okay?”
Marner has been with the Maple Leafs since the team selected him fourth overall in 2015.
Marner Not Discussing Contract
With Marner set to become a free agent on July 1, his future has been a major question.
Although his name was brought into trade talks, he says he isn’t letting that impact him.
“Like I talked to you guys, man, I’m not gonna get into any of this contract stuff,” Marner said. “I’ve been very grateful, and I’ve loved my time being a Leaf. So, I’ll leave it with you guys. And we got 20 games left here that aren’t going to be easy. We got to make sure we just keep our foot down on the gas here and give ourselves the best position to go into playoffs.”
As Marner says, the focus for him is on the playoffs as he will deal with the contract after the season ends.
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