Well HALLELUJAH!!!! Both Leafs fans and the entirety of the NHL’s fanbase can finally breathe. Now you ask, “why such a reaction?” Well, TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger broke the news that Mitchell Marner re-signed with The Toronto Maple Leafs on a six-year deal with an AAV (Annual Average Value) salary of $10.893 million. Dreger also stated that the deal is very “heavily front-loaded.”
What this means now is that William Nylander, Auston Matthews and Mitchell Marner are the core of Toronto’s offence until the 2023-2024 season (per Capfriendly.com). This essentially gives Kyle Dubas time to try and win a Stanley Cup by the 2023-2024 season. The next benefit about Marner signing is that it should lead to a domino effect of restricted free agents to sign contracts fairly soon.
The problem with the Marner signing, however, is that the Leafs have $0 dollars left in cap space. However, the Leafs have already projected $13,365,199 used in long-term injured reserve, so something has to give within $81.5 million USD and above $60.2 million USD.
What this means is that the Toronto Maple Leafs are eventually going to have to make a trade to move a guy that doesn’t quite fit in with the 2023-24 projection. However, Marner is going to be a key cog in the Maple Leafs lineup, stabilizing and bolstering an already stellar line with John Tavares around for the next four to five seasons. The pressure cooker is already heating up for Marner to help general manager Kyle Dubas bring home Lord Stanley’s Cup back to Toronto.
Over the next few weeks, Kyle Dubas should be pretty busy trying to move some contracts off the books and help get the Leafs below the $81.5 million USD cap mark.
You should expect to see a lot from Mitch Marner now that he has re-signed with the Leafs in Toronto where is focus will once again be making Toronto one of the most lethal offences in the NHL.