Leafs' Mitch Marner Could Sign Huge Contract with Ducks

It is no secret the Anaheim Ducks are looking to quench their thirst for a spot in the NHL postseason.

They have been given the green light by their ownership to spend big money to attract free agents to the team.

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner is expected to hit the open market on July 1 as an unrestricted free agent.

According to James Mirtle of The Athletic , he might be ticketed to Anaheim.

"Some of the chatter is that theyll potentially be the high bidder for Mitch Marner, with an unheard-of average annual value north of the $14 million that the Oilers Leon Draisaitl currently makes as the NHLs highest-paid player," Mirtle wrote.

Mirtle is unsure as to whether Marner would go for the big bucks with a losing franchise, as the Ducks have not made the playoffs for seven seasons.

He might be willing to take less and play for a Stanley Cup contender.

"Whether Marner is considering teams that arent currently established playoff contenders remains to be seen," Mirtle wrote.

"Still, its hard to imagine any team, aside from the Blue Jackets and their $40.4MM in cap space, being willing to enter that range." An offer from the Ducks in that range would make Marner hockey's highest paid player, supplanting the Edmonton Oilers' Leon Draisaitl.

The main question is what has he done to warrant that type of contract? "Even an offer matching, not exceeding, Oilers superstars league-high $14MM cap hit comes in well north of his projected market value of just a shade under $13MM", according to AFP Analytics .

Any contract offer to Marner in that range will definitely draw comparisons to Draisaitl.

The Oilers winger has been in the league two more years than Marner and has accomplished more in terms of team success.

He is also a more prolific goal scorer, although he does get to play alongside Connor McDavid.

Draisaitls career points per game rate of 1.21 dwarfs that of Marners 1.13.

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