The latest report regarding Mitch Marner’s contract comes courtesy of former Maple Leaf Carlo Colaiacovo, who has a very interesting theory regarding the superstar.
The questions around whether Mitch Marner will or won’t stay are abundant to say the least, and with the forward currently being the backbone of the Maple Leafs team, many are hoping that he decides to stick around regardless of how much money he might get.
Speaking of that amount though, Marner is going to make bank whether it’s with Toronto or with someone else. But for one NHL analyst, he doesn’t think that’s the end goal for Mitch Marner.
Carlo Colaiacovo’s Creating Controversy
Former Maple Leafs defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo didn’t hold back while making his appearance as co-host of TSN’s FirstUp show discussing what Marner’s end goal actually is:
If the Leafs called and said, ‘Hey, we want to look at getting something done,’ and you say no, but you’re still telling everybody you want to be a Maple Leaf; it’s pretty simple to do the math.
If Marner wanted to be the highest paid Maple Leaf, he is going to need to fight through the protective shield that is Toronto’s internal cap when it comes to Auston Matthews.
It’s a $13.25M contract that is being made or broken by a few hundred thousand dollars which is potentially the most ridiculously minuscule amount of money, especially with an ever-growing salary cap.
Marner deserves $13.5M; it’s a substantial increase from his current deal, more than Mikko Rantanen, will presumably be the highest deal signed, and it puts him atop the highest paid players in the NHL.
He’s enjoying the best season of his career, been the backbone of the Maple Leafs during some rough times this year, and was instrumental in helping Team Canada win the 4 Nations Face-Off; a big plus in the ‘produces when it matters’ category.
Toronto nearly traded him at the deadline for Rantanen, however things fell through once Marner refused to waive his no-movement clause, which in hindsight is probably for the best.
This season, the former fourth overall pick has 80 points in 63 games (21G, 59A) which puts him seventh in the NHL, and with his entire career in Toronto has 719 points in 639 games; a 1.125 point per game average.
Marner deserves to be the richest Toronto Maple Leafs player, especially with his results this season.