5 bold offseason predictions for the Toronto Maple Leafs

4. Marner Stays

The media seems convinced teams are going to try to sign Mitch Marner to an offer sheet. Every year, people think this will be the year some team is going to sign someone to an offer sheet. Just about every year, nobody signs one.

Marner, however, is a special case. He’s one of the premier young players in the NHL and the Maple Leafs have cap issues. Still, teams rarely sign anyone to offer sheets because of the outrageous compensation rules. Who would sign Marner to a deal that would make them give up at least two first-round picks (probably four) and be able to afford his cap hit? Virtually no one.

You’ve got to give credit to Marner and his agent. They have the media eating out of the palms of their hands. There are media members who think Marner deserves more than $10 million per year.

However, there is one wing who currently makes that much – Patrick Kane. Marner’s darn good, but he’s not that good. He won’t sign for eight digits, but remember, the media has already been hyping Marner up as being worth that much. This will make him look like the good guy when he gets something like $9.5 million per year.

Also, any difference in his cap hit is going to be made up in cheesy commercials. Marner’s a local Toronto boy who could make a ton of money in endorsements. He’s sticking around. The Leafs, however, will regret not signing him last summer before letting him pump up his value by getting lots of playing time with John Tavares.