Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch Marner find common ground to end tough negotiation
By Austin Owens
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch Marner put pen to paper on a new six-year, $65.3 million contract on Friday ending a gruelling negotiation.
Well…At least we can all stop speculating about what Mitch Marner will make on his new contract and start talking about which team he’ll depart the Toronto for in more than a half-decade from now.
The star winger signed a new six-year, $65.3-million contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the team announced on Friday.
The deal will hold an annual average value of $10.893 million, make Marner the second-highest-paid winger in the NHL behind Artemi Panarin and the seventh-best salary among all players in the league.
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Toronto and Marner’s camp have been going back and forth on numbers throughout the summer. Marner was reportedly seeking the same salary as teammate Auston Matthews — who makes $11.6 million annually — while the Leafs were looking to land the talented winger for a smaller number.
Several moves were made to accommodate Marner’s new deal, namely, the Leafs shipped Marner’s pseudo father, Patrick Marleau, to the Carolina Hurricanes along with their 2020 first-rounder to dump salary. The team also acquired David Clarkson for the purpose of placing him on long-term injured reserve. That freed up extra LTIR cap room in order to make this deal happen.
Marner led the Leafs in scoring in 2018-19, setting a new career-high in goals (26) and points (94). Paired alongside star centre John Tavares, the pairing ripped it up. Tavares also set a new career-high in goals with 47 while Marner’s 68 assists were the fourth-best total in the NHL.
The Maple Leafs just opened their training camp on Friday with sessions in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
Marner was reportedly the man that other RFAs were waiting on to set the market. Now, the focus shifts to others without contracts, specifically, Brayden Point, Matthew Tkachuk, Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor, Mikko Rantanen, Brock Boeser and Charlie McAvoy.
Now, Kyle Dubas’ famous “We can, and we will,” soundbite has now come to fruition. The Leafs not only signed their top three restricted free agents — Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner and William Nylander — have signed for five or more years apiece. On top of that, they added a star centreman in John Tavares. The team also looks like it’ll be the deepest forward-wise that it’s ever been while the defence looks improved. Oh, and did I mention that Frederik Andersen was the team’s MVP last season.
With both Jake Muzzin and Tyson Barrie up at the end of this upcoming season, the Leafs are all-in on making a cup run this year — cue the first-round jokes.
So now that the pre-season is just around the corner and the 2019-20 campaign is upon us, you either have to jump on the wagon or hop off. It’s going to be a wild ride, and the Leafs’ chances to contend just got even better with No. 16 in the lineup for the full year.
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What do you think of the deal? What are you most excited for this season? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!