Would Mitch Marner Be A Fit For The Wings?

05/09/2024 at 8:48am EDT

from Nick Kypreos at the Toronto Star,

On Friday, when newly appointed MLSE CEO Keith Pelley, Leafs president Brendan Shanahan and general manager Brad Treliving speak to the media, it’s fully expected that they’ll be aligned on the team’s short-term plans to get this runaway train back on the rails.
Unlike in years past, it will come with a different tone that no longer supports the idea of the Core Four.
Marner is now expendable because of what it will take to re-sign him, while it’s time for Tavares to go due to his diminishing role. These factors will be the driving force in why the Leafs will be seeking trades for these two as early as this June’s draft.
Both players have full no-movement clauses that they can exercise until they are free agents after next season, but what’s the point of waiting? If the Leafs can find Marner a destination where he’s willing to go and his new team has the means to sign him to a long-term contract with an annual salary he can’t refuse, then why delay the inevitable?
Here is the good news for Marner: there are already multiple NHL teams that have reached out and shown a keen interest in a three-time all-star player who closes in on 100 points every season. And that’s with the knowledge that his next contract could land him as much as $100 million.

from Kevin Allen of Detroit Hockey Now,

Some fans thought it might be comically fitting if the Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman drafted Cole Eiserman this year. It makes sense because Eiserman is a prolific scorer (57 goals in 56 games) for the U.S. National Team Development Program. He has been slipping in the draft ranking this season.

But McKenzie has him ranked 13th and Button also has him landing 13th with the Minnesota Wild.

The player Button projects the Red Wings will take is right wing Michael Brandsegg-Nygard. He plays in Swedens second division (Mora). It makes sense because the Red Wings do like how their players develop in Sweden. The twist here is Brandsegg-Nygard was born in Norway. The Red Wings had a similar scenario two years ago when they drafted Austrias Marco Kasper when he was playing in Sweden.

exor54

No thanks. Too costly. Too soft. Too whiny. Disappears in playoffs. Nope.

godblenderexor54

He averages damn near a point per game in the playoffs.

Too soft? I don't even know what that means anymore. People just throw it around with no context whatsoever. Mostly it seems like something people say about a player they hate, or about a player who plays for a team they hate. That's it.

He's not coming to Detroit, but if money was no object then of course he'd be a fit.

OlderThanCheliosexor54

Too costly. Too soft. Too whiny. Disappears in playoffs.

Yup. Yup. Yup. And yup. That equals a great big nope.

And that's before you even add in what it would cost to acquire him.

SYF

No.

NateA

Before acquiring Debrincat last summer, maaaybe. Now? How exactly does he expect the wings to fit an $11M contract into the cap. Even if the leafs eat half the contract it would be extremely difficult to make work.

I don't think there's many teams around the league that can make that work.

TreKronor

I just don't see how the puzzle pieces fit. Would I take him? Yeah, the Wings need all the offensive help they can get. Not to mention, he's only had one season where he's minus (a whopping -1 back in 2017/2018). But I just don't see how it comes together.

To Nate's point, Toronto's going to have a hard time finding a team to take him on. Normally a team is preparing for their RFA's upcoming pay day (except for Toronto, in this case...). So for a team to just have $10mil/yr in cap space available AND be a place Marner is interested in signing with long term is going to be a tough match to make.