Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Mitch Marner will be the top free agent available and one insider expects him to leave his hometown team.
NHL insider John Buccigross of ESPN was on DailyFaceoff’s Morning Cuppa Hockey and predicted Marner will walk in free agency and sign with the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks.
“For Marner, again, I’m going to say Chicago. I think Chicago for him, to play with Bedard, to be the star, that awesome market, still not far from Toronto if that matters to him,” Buccigross said. “But I’ll go Chicago with Mitch Marner. It seems like he’s going to get a big offer, and I don’t know if Toronto will be able to pay him more than Nylander and Matthews and all that. Some people seem to be hung up on that.”
The Blackhawks would be a logical landing spot for Marner as he could help set up Connor Bedard on the top line. Chicago also has nearly $32 million in cap space this offseason, so they have the money to sign Marner to a massive deal.
Marner has recorded 21 goals and 59 assists for 80 points in 64 games.
Maple Leafs’ Marner Focused on Season
The future of Marner has been up in the air all year.
Marner is in the final year of his deal, and his name came up in a trade rumor ahead of the deadline. However, he says he isn’t paying attention to that as he’s just focused on the season.
“I wasn’t focused on it. I had a feeling that maybe something might happen,” Marner said. “But, yeah, I’m here to play hockey with this team, like I said, and I’m focused with this team. And that’s what I can tell you…
” Like I talked to you guys, man, I’m not gonna get into any of this contract stuff,” Marner added. “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.”
With the focus on the season, whether or not Marner will be back in Toronto will be a major question this offseason.
Blackhawks GM Optimistic Rebuild is Nearly Over
Chicago has been one of the worst teams in the NHL, but general manager Kyle Davidson believes the rebuild is nearly over.
Davidson believes the team is ready to take the next step after seeing major improvements from his young players this season.
“I’m probably more optimistic having seen the years our young players are having throughout the organization,” Davidson said. “I’m probably more optimistic now than I was in the summer in that respect.”
The Blackhawks are led by Bedard who was the first overall pick in 2023. Davidson believes he’s really coming into his own, which will be a key part in Chicago being good.
“I think you’re starting to see that offensive creativity blossom over the last little while here and he’s got some confidence,” Davidson said. “He’s got some swagger back, and it’s really exciting to see. I think he’s playing really, really well, he’s skating really well.”
The Blackhawks are 20-37-9 and second-last in the NHL.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Insider Predicts Mitch Marner Leaves Maple Leafs For Rebuilding West Team appeared first on Heavy Sports.