TSN: The Toronto Maple Leafs asked Mitch Marner if he wanted to go to Carolina after the Hurricanes asked about a Mikko Rantanen – Marner trade. He said he wanted to remain a Maple Leaf, but what impact will that have on contract extension talks this offseason?
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Jay Onrait: “I mean, this is like scorched earth over the weekend, like, has this affected the potential contract negotiations this upcoming summer in a way that, that maybe Mitch Marner is going to start looking elsewhere, even though he says he wants to stick around in Toronto?
Craig Button: “I’m going to take Mitch Marner at his word. Listen, Jay, and you know this, at times there can be contentious moments in any type of contract negotiation. And certainly some players might take it a little bit more personally. Some people might just say, hey, that’s just part and parcel of what we’re going through.
But when it’s all said and done, and I’m going to put the onus right on the Toronto Maple Leafs. You got this superb player. You got this superb player that’s been part of your organization since the day you drafted him in 2015 and he’s performed at an exceptionally high level over the course of his career.
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You will not find a better player than Mitch Marner available this summer. So again, you might have to repair some things. You might have to smooth some things over. I would suggest that that needs to be their course of action. Maybe Mitch will say, no big deal if he signs a long-term contract in Toronto.
When you think about Mitch Marner, and you think about how excellent he has been and Jay, he’s just making under $11 million. I don’t know where the contract goes to. Maybe it goes to 13. Maybe it goes to 13.25. I don’t know, I’m not privy to any of those types of numbers being exchanged. But it’s only $2 million or $2.5 million more that he’s making right now.
And I will say this, I don’t think Mitch Marner will underperform on that contract, no matter what term is.”
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