Toronto Maple Leafs have put the ball in Mitch Marner’s court

The Toronto Maple Leafs still haven’t signed star forward Mitch Marner. However, they’ve put the pressure on him to sign at a number they can afford with their recent signings.

Last summer, the Toronto Maple Leafs didn’t handle the William Nylander negotiations as well as they could have. The staredown lasted until the last minute when the Leafs proceeded to sign Nylander to a deal he probably would have taken in the offseason. It appears general manager Kyle Dubas has learned his lesson, as he’s handling the Mitch Marner situation in a far more ruthless and efficient manner.

As a restricted free agent, Marner’s demands have been all over the place. Some say he wants over $11 million per season. If you believe Darren Dreger, $12 million a year isn’t unreasonable. Multiple teams are reportedly interested in signing him to an offer sheet. But instead of bowing to Marner’s demands, Dubas has been busy taking care of business.

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Recently, he signed fellow restricted free agents Kasperi Kapanen and Andreas Johnsson to very reasonable deals. The former got three years and a $3.2 million cap hit. Meanwhile, the latter got four years and $3.4 million per year. $6.6 million combined for two guys who both had at least 40 points last season is about as good of a bargain as you’re going to find this time of the year.

With those two signings, the Maple Leafs now have $6.94 million of cap space, according to CapFriendly. They have 19 players signed, including 11 forwards and five defensemen.

Now, the Leafs can easily find someone to move to fit in Marner if and when he signs. It wouldn’t be surprising if they have trades waiting for Nikita Zaitsev and possibly even Connor Brown. But you can bet Dubas won’t pull the trigger until he gets Marner signed.

What this does is put the ball in Marner’s court. He claims he wants to stay. The Leafs are wisely calling his bluff. Marner doesn’t really have much, if any, leverage here. His options are very limited if he doesn’t like what the Leafs are offering.

If Marner wants more, he’s going to have to find it somewhere else. An offer sheet or a trade is the only way he’s going to get more money because the Leafs hold his rights. There hasn’t been an offer sheet since 2013. And the Leafs aren’t trading Marner.

Teams are going to have to give Marner an eight-digit average annual value for him to even consider signing. How many teams are going to be willing to give up four first-round picks to sign him to a massive deal? It would be expensive enough signing him to what would be the highest cap hit a wing has ever gotten. But once you toss in the four first rounders, it’s hard to see any team being willing to do that.

Dubas is being ruthless with Marner. He’s put the ball squarely in his court. Dubas isn’t letting Marner’s desire for more money handcuff him. Signing Johnsson and Kapanen proves that. Kudos to Dubas for managing to hold on to both and avoid using them as a “sweetener” to get rid of Zaitsev and Patrick Marleau.

If Marner wants to stay with the Maple Leafs, he’s going to have to sign a deal that makes sense for the team. The longer he holds out, the less likely it becomes that he’ll get the deal he wants. Marner could play in Europe, but he wouldn’t get paid anything close to what he’d get with the Leafs.

Dubas is showing he’s improved as a negotiator. He was perhaps a bit too kind with Nylander last offseason. This time around, Dubas is putting the pressure on Marner right away. He’s sending his star forward a message – sign a deal that makes sense for us or go find a deal somewhere else. Dubas knows Marner probably won’t find a better deal somewhere else.