Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Mitch Marner will be the top free agent available on July 1 if he reaches the open market.
Marner is in the final year of his six-year $65.41 million deal with the Maple Leafs. If he reaches free agency, he will be in line for a massive payday. Several teams are expected to pursue Marner and NHL insider Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic believes the Boston Bruins will pursue Marner.
“Jake DeBrusk, formerly the second-line right wing, signed with the Vancouver Canucks last season. Sweeney chose not to replace DeBrusk. Partly because he believed Fabian Lysell could make the varsity,” Shinzawa wrote about the Bruins’ top offseason need. “Lysell did not. He has appeared in just one NHL game. Like Merkulov, Lysell, 22, may not be an NHL player.
“Vinni Lettieri, currently Mittelstadt’s right wing, is a UFA after this year. The 30-year-old has 323 career AHL games and 141 NHL appearances. Ideal target: Mitch Marner,” Shinzawa added.
Marner going to the Bruins would be a massive shock as Boston is Toronto’s main rival. So, Marner leaving his hometown team for Boston would make him hated, but it does make sense for the Bruins.
The Bruins have plenty of cap space in the offseason and have to add more stars to their roster if they are looking to compete next season.
Marner has recorded 21 goals and 61 assists for 82 points in 66 games.
Maple Leafs’ Marner Not Talking About Contract
Marner’s future has been the main talking point for the Maple Leafs as of late.
The star forward is one of the best players in the NHL and if he reaches free agency, several teams will be interested in him. However, despite being in the final year of his deal, Marner says he’s not focused on his deal and isn’t talking about it either.
“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.”
Marner has also not wanted to negotiate during the season as he’s just focused on playing.
Marner is a three-time All-Star.
Bruins GM Wants Quick Turnaround
Boston is likely to miss the playoffs as the Bruins were sellers at the deadline.
Despite selling off some assets, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney says they have work to do, but are focused on turning this around as quickly as possible.
“We have our work to do,” Sweeney said to Boston.com. “There’s no question we have some areas we need to address moving forward. We’ve got some guys that are getting a hell of an opportunity, as I referenced earlier. I think it would be better if we were healthy to have a complete understanding of how the puzzle is going to fit… But we have to do a better job of supporting and bringing players around that are going to play the identity of what this fanbase expects and get back on track.”
One way Boston can turn it around this offseason is by signing a star player like Marner.
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