NHL Rumors: Multiple teams discussing offer sheet with Mitch Marner

Mitch Marner is one of the best restricted free agents on the market and his contract negotiation with the Toronto Maple Leafs has made him the center of attention.

Mitch Marner‘s next contract has been the source of annoyance for everyone who watches the NHL. If you are not a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, you’re sick of all the coverage it’s getting when players like Brayden Point and Patrik Laine are not getting the same treatment. If you’re a Leafs’ fan, you’re sick of contract disputes and you just want to know what your team will look like next season. According to the latest NHL rumors, teams are reaching out to him.

Every day, there are headlines and tweets from reputable sources saying that at any second now, Marner will get offer sheeted by another team and leave the city for good. This has been going on all year, and everyone’s sick of it.

More from Puck Prose

• Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
• This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
• 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
• 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
• This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings

Ever since the offer sheet got introduced, it has been used 37 times and the last time it was actually successful was back in 2007 when Dustin Penner of the Anaheim Ducks got offer sheeted by the Edmonton Oilers.

The biggest thing surrounding the negotiations is not Marner himself, but it’s his camp. His agent, Darren Ferris is known to be a very flamboyant character and most of the players he represents go through hell and back just to sign a contract with their team.

Some examples include Andreas Athanasiou “potentially going to the KHL” if he doesn’t receive the contract he wants and Josh Anderson “heading to Switzerland” because he doesn’t have a contract. Athanasiou signed for two years at 3 million a season and Anderson signed for three years at 1.85 million.

There’s no way that Marner threatens to go to Europe to play, so Ferris is using offer sheets as a piece of leverage. Problem is, it’s not happening. No team is going to give up so many valuable picks for Marner. He’s a good winger, but he’s not even close to worth that.

The rumor going around was that he turned down an $11 million deal over eight years from the Leafs. No NHL team would give a first-line winger more than $11 million. Heck, Nikita Kucherov makes 9.5 a season and he just won the Hart Trophy.

If I were Marner, I would want all the money I could get. This is my one chance to make all my money and I’m going to get as much as possible. But this whole charade of offer sheets and trying to play to the media is not working and it’s ruining Marner’s reputation.

Besides, it’s not like he can’t get money anywhere else. Marner has been on practically every advertisement on the planet. From Intact Insurance to Red Bull Canada, Marner has been making side money and really taking advantage of the hockey hub that is Toronto.

Before this whole negotiation started, Marner was the fan favorite in the city. His bubbly, positive attitude and performance on ice endeared him to everyone and his off-ice community work just made him even more popular. But after all this contract talk – especially after the William Nylander situation – has soured his reputation in Toronto.

Marner has the chance to sign a deal and potentially break the Stanley Cup drought, turning him into a literal hero in the city and turning down an opportunity like this – one that he has dreamed about since he was a child – would be foolish and he will regret it forever.