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Mitch Marner

Early Notes: Marner, CBA, Chiarelli

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The Mitch Marner summer saga has now continued partway through September and doesn’t seem to have an end in sight. Darren Dreger and Bob McKenzie of TSN both took to Twitter to explain the situation this morning, with the latter confirming that the team made seven and eight year offers in the “$11MM AAV universe” but Marner’s camp refused them because of a comparison to Auston Matthews. Matthews of course signed for five years at an $11.634MM cap hit during the season.

The player’s camp is focused on a three-year deal with a high salary in the third season, a contract blueprint made popular by Timo Meier earlier this summer. The high salary in the third year guarantees a big qualifying offer that can take the player right into unrestricted free agency if they so choose. With the Maple Leafs opening camp this week, it certainly seems like Marner will not be there to take part in the early sessions.

  • Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic notes that the NHL and NHLPA are meeting for the third consecutive day as they continue to try and work out what will happen with the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The players have until Sunday to decide whether they want to exercise their clause to reopen the CBA for negotiation, which would effectively opt-out of the agreement after the 2019-20 season. If not, the deal would run until September 2022, giving the two sides plenty of time to work out an extension or new agreement.
  • Peter Chiarelli hasn’t landed a new GM job, but will be working in a front office this season. Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports that the former Edmonton Oilers executive will serve as a consultant for the St. Louis Blues. Chiarelli has worked as a GM for both Edmonton and the Boston Bruins, where he won a Stanley Cup in 2011.

Snapshots: RFA Market, Schuldt, Pominville

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The restricted free agent market still hasn’t budged much since the beginning of the offseason, but that means Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic hasn’t missed much during his vacation. The insider returned today with a look at several of the biggest names (subscription required) still without contracts and explained that in many situations term is the big sticking point. In particular, LeBrun spoke with Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas who maintains that even though the team hasn’t been able to get a deal done with Mitch Marner, the idea of a trade is still almost unthinkable.

That’s the same sentiment that Dubas gave Bob McKenzie of TSN in their interview, explaining that Marner is still a huge part of the Maple Leafs program and they want him in a Toronto sweater for as long as possible. That’s the same company line that almost every GM has uttered over the last two months, but names like Marner, Mikko Rantanen, Matthew Tkachuk and Brayden Point are now just a few days away from missing the start of training camp.

  • One name not mentioned in LeBrun’s piece is Jimmy Schuldt, who continues to negotiate with the Vegas Golden Knights after signing and burning his one-year entry-level deal last season. Schuldt played one game down the stretch for the Golden Knights after finishing his four-year career at St. Cloud State and was expected to challenge for a full-time spot on the Vegas blueline this season. Jesse Granger of The Athletic tweets that nothing has changed in the negotiations of late and that the Vegas front office “believes it can wait Schuldt out to sign him for as cheap as possible.” The Golden Knights have very little cap space remaining even after trading away players like Erik Haula, Colin Miller and Nikita Gusev, obviously leaving them without much flexibility when it comes to Schuldt’s deal.
  • Even with all the focus on the RFA market there is still some talent left among the unrestricted free agent names. One of those is Jason Pominville, who according to Eric Engels of Sportsnet has at least had preliminary conversations with the Montreal Canadiens. The 36-year old has likely had some talks with several teams after registering 31 points in 73 games last season for the Buffalo Sabres. Pominville may not be the 70-80 point player he once was, but he can still contribute enough that he should find a landing spot somewhere before the season begins.

Chuck Fletcher “Not Concerned” About Lingering RFA Negotiations

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The Philadelphia Flyers are like a dozen other teams around the NHL, waiting to have some clarity on whether their top restricted free agents will be suiting up when training camp opens in a few weeks. The Flyers have two top players still without contracts in Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny, but GM Chuck Fletcher isn’t ready to panic just because they aren’t signed yet. Speaking with Sam Carchidi of the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday, Fletcher explained the Flyers are in the same situation as all of the other teams but isn’t stressing out:

We’ll keep working at it. They’re good young players and we expect to have them signed and ready to go as soon as we can. … Right now, the landscape league-wide is murky, and I think things will start to clear up in the next few weeks. At this point, I’m not concerned. This has been the trend the last few years.

Fletcher is right, restricted free agents have started to wait longer and longer to sign their deals, though this crop is even bigger than normal. Last summer saw Noah Hanifin, Ondrej Kase, Josh Morrissey, Darnell Nurse, Sam Reinhart and Shea Theodore all sign in either late-August or September, and among high profile players only William Nylander’s negotiation leaked into the season. That group doesn’t exactly stand up to names like Mitch Marner, Brayden Point and Mikko Rantanen, but it’s not just complementary or depth players either.

Things will certainly start to clear up for some of the restricted free agents in the near future, but there’s certainly no guarantee that both Konecny and Provorov will be signed by camp. Carchidi suggests that Provorov could get a deal worth around $7MM per season while Konecny is expected to get somewhere between $4-4.5MM per season. Obviously both of those cap numbers are contingent on the term of the contracts.

Poll: Who Will Be The First Top RFA To Sign?

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It’s the question on everyone’s mind. When will these restricted free agents sign? The workday on the second last Friday of August has almost come to an end and there is still a huge list of unsigned stars with no real progress being made. Whether they are all waiting on Mitch Marner or Brayden Point to set the market or not, we’re starting to get closer and closer to the start of training camp and real contract holdouts beginning. We’ve already heard one player has contacted a European squad to give them a place to train, and there will undoubtedly be more.

So who breaks the dam? When Colin White signed earlier this week there was hope that things were finally progressing, but instead there has been deafening silence around the league. Even with small tidbits of information coming out from situations surrounding Zach Werenski and Brock Boeser, there still doesn’t seem to be any movement. Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney explained today that things with Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy are going “not as fast as everybody would like” but that he’s confident they will be with the organization for a long time.

It’s not even just the top players that are still out there without a contract. Names like Kevin Fiala, Brendan Perlini and Adrian Kempe are still without deals for one reason or another and may still be waiting on the high-profile players to be finished first. That’s a tough place for any young player to be in, especially when you’re not quite as established as someone like Point or Marner. Missing training camp would be a huge detriment to their careers, meaning they’re likely watching the news wire just as closely.

When will things change? Who will finally decide that the waiting game is taking too long? Cast your vote below and make sure to explain why in the comments. We’ve included the top names, but feel free to explain why another player may be the one to kick things off.

[Mobile users click here to vote]

Snapshots: Puljujarvi, Cassidy, Marner

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Another day, another controversial translation regarding Jesse Puljujarvi and his future with the Edmonton Oilers. This time the unhappy restricted free agent spoke to Finnish television station Lamari, saying (through a translation of a Sporten article) that he wants a chance at playing a top-six role in the NHL with another team where he could get 15 minutes of ice time every game.

Despite the Oilers changing both their front office and coaching staff this offseason, it seems as though Puljujarvi and agent Markus Lehto have dug in and won’t return to the club regardless of potential contract offers. The 21-year old has played in 139 NHL games since being drafted fourth overall in 2016 but has just 37 points and failed to secure a top-six role in Edmonton even with their lack of talent on the wing. He will likely play in Finland if he can’t find a new club in the NHL or reach some agreement with the Oilers.

  • Bruce Cassidy has done an excellent job since taking over as head coach of the Boston Bruins, leading the team to a 117-52-22 record. Now Joe McDonald of The Athletic (subscription required) reports that the team has started negotiating a contract extension that would keep him in Boston past the end of his current deal. Cassidy’s contract is set to expire after the 2019-20 season. While the team failed to secure the Stanley Cup this year after reaching the finals against the St. Louis Blues, there’s no doubting Cassidy’s influence and success so far. It seems almost inevitable that a deal will get completed to keep him with the Bruins at some point.
  • Though today’s news that Mitch Marner has spoken to the Zurich Lions of the NLA came with plenty of suspicion that the representatives for the Toronto Maple Leafs forward are simply trying to move things along, Igor Eronko of Sport-Express rightly points out that the winger’s rights were never drafted in the KHL meaning he could potentially sign with any team there. That could potentially mean a bigger payday than the Lions could ever offer if Marner was really set on playing overseas, though obviously he has not been linked to the KHL at this point. James Mirtle of The Athletic was on TSN radio to discuss the restricted free agent situation, and still maintained that the Zurich news is likely “posturing.”

Mitch Marner Camp Contacts Swiss Team

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3:25pm: The Lions have confirmed the request from Marner’s camp to practice with the team, though it has not been decided if it will happen.

12:20pm: As we’ve seen in the past with unsigned restricted free agents deep into unflinching contract negotiations, at some point in the summer they start to consider their non-NHL options. Skating with teams in Europe or using the KHL as a potential negotiating tactic are often the way things play out and it looks like this offseason will be no different. Rick Dhaliwal of Sportsnet has spoken with a source in Europe that tells him Mitch Marner’s camp has already reached out to the Zurich Lions of the Swiss NLA in case a deal can’t get done with the Toronto Maple Leafs in time for the season. Something like this does not by any means indicate that a contract won’t be signed between Marner and the Maple Leafs, but it would give him a potential place to keep his game sharp on a temporary basis.

The fact that it is Zurich may come as no surprise, given Auston Matthews’ connection with the organization and friendship with Marner. Matthews decided to play his draft year in Switzerland instead of North America, challenging himself against professionals before his eventual leap into the NHL. Zurich is known as an extremely stable organization and this season will have Rikard Gronborg behind the bench as head coach.

It is also important to note that these discussions with European or KHL teams rarely actually end up in a player spending time away from the NHL. In fact, other clients of Darren Ferris (Marner’s agent) have been known to use the Russian league as a leverage point over the years to try and get a deal done in North America. Both Sam Bennett and Andreas Athanasiou, clients of Ferris, were linked to the KHL in the summer of 2017 when they were at contract impasses with their respective clubs.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that Marner isn’t looking for a place to suit up and get on the ice however, similar to how William Nylander kept in shape with Swedish and Austrian clubs during his situation last year. If anything, this will hopefully put some pressure on both sides to get something done in the next few weeks as we are now less than a month away from training camp.

Prospect Notes: 2020 Draft, Reinhart, WHL

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It may only be August, but The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler is already hard at work evaluating next June’s draft class. The 2020 Draft promises to be chock full of talent, with Wheeler calling it more impressive than the most recent draft class and deeper at the top. In fact, he believes it could be the strongest class since 2015, which produced superstars like Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Zach Werenski, Mikko Rantanen, Jake Debrusk, Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor, and Thomas Chabot in the top 20 picks alone. Also unlike recent drafts, Wheeler feels the 2020 class will be deeper at forward than defense and will be lacking impact American prospects, with the scout failing to see a U.S. product even enter the conversation as a top-ten pick. So who might be in contention for one of those elite slots? Canadian forward Alexis Lafreniere has long been considered the presumptive top pick and finds himself at No. 1 on Wheeler’s initial draft board as well. However, Swedish forwards Lucas Raymond and Alexander Holtz could push him for that top spot. College-bound Dylan Holloway is an interesting name to watch as a top-ten candidate, as is Wheeler’s highest-ranked defenseman, Jamie Drysdale. Goaltender Yaroslav Askarov also intrigues Wheeler; he feels the Russian keeper could be the best goalie prospect of this decade. Plenty could change in the ten months still to come before the 2020 Draft, but it never hurts to get a head start on researching who your team could be eyeing next year.

  • Unsurprisingly lost in the shuffle of an off-season that has left many major names unsigned is a former top NHL prospect in Griffin Reinhart. NHL teams have been tantalized by Reinhart’s upside seemingly forever without any real results to show for it, but it seems that luck has finally run out. The fourth overall pick in 2012 by the New York Islanders, Reinhart recorded one lone point in eight NHL games in his first pro season before the Edmonton Oilers traded a first- and second-round pick for him. He proceeded to score just one more point in 29 games over two seasons in Edmonton before being selected by the Vegas Golden Knights in the Expansion Draft. In two years in Vegas, he did not see any NHL action and became a Group 6 unrestricted free agent. Reinhart received the benefit of the doubt for many years, but it seems no longer, as there has been practically no talk of the young defenseman this summer.
  • The WHL is headed outdoors for just the third time in league history. Sportsnet reports that the Regina Pats will host the Calgary Hitmen in an outdoor game this season on October 27th. The game will take place at Mosaic Stadium in Saskatchewan just one day after the Winnipeg Jets and Calgary Flames square off there for the NHL’s Heritage Classic. The last WHL outdoor game took place back in 2011 and was another Pats-Hitmen contest, again coinciding with the Heritage Classic.

Snapshots: Brodie, Marner, Staal

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The Calgary Flames still need to shed some more salary in order to fit in what is expected to be a big contract for Matthew Tkachuk, and Sportsnet’s Eric Francis suggests on radio that T.J. Brodie might have to be the one to go. The defenseman has been involved in trade speculation for some time and as Francis notes, the team has two up-and-coming options in Rasmus Andersson and Juuso Valimaki (not to mention Oliver Kylington, who is also pushing for an NHL spot.)

The Flames already shed themselves of some money by buying out Michael Stone recently, but project to have just over $7.75MM in cap space to sign both Tkachuk and Andrew Mangiapane. The 29-year old Brodie has just one year left on his current contract with a $4.65MM cap hit and is still an effective offensive option from the blueline. Francis worries that the Flames may have to part with another player to find a fit for Brodie after a deal earlier this offseason fell apart with the Toronto Maple Leafs thanks to Nazem Kadri’s no-trade clause. With just a month left before training camps open, Flames GM Brad Treliving still has plenty of work to do.

  • Speaking of the Maple Leafs, they too have an unsigned restricted free agent holding things up. Mitch Marner still doesn’t have a contract for the 2019-20 season, but linemate John Tavares doesn’t seem worried. Speaking with TSN this weekend, Tavares explained that “there’s still some time” for the contract to be worked out and is hopeful that Marner is there on the first day of training camp. The Maple Leafs currently project over the salary cap for the upcoming season but have more than $10MM tied up in Nathan Horton and David Clarkson who will be placed on long-term injured reserve at some point.
  • Jared Staal has been hired by the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears as an assistant coach, transitioning to a new role in professional hockey. The younger brother of Eric Staal, Jordan Staal and Marc Staal played two games for the Carolina Hurricanes in 2012-13 but had spent most of his career in the minor leagues. His playing days ended after suiting up for the Edinburgh Capitals of the EIHL in 2016-17. The 28-year old was originally drafted in the 2008 second round, but couldn’t quite climb to the same heights as his brothers. Perhaps he’ll get to that level as a coach, something he’s obviously getting an early start on.

Snapshots: Marner, Murphy, Canucks

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The market for restricted free agents is still being held up by Mitch Marner and today James Mirtle of The Athletic (subscription required) examined the situation between the young star and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Mirtle believes that the Maple Leafs have been “aggressive” trying to get the contract done and are willing to get into basically unprecedented territory for a three-year bridge deal if it comes to that.

Obviously there is still a lot of mystery and negotiating through the media in the Marner situation, but as we get closer and closer to training camp things around the league have to start to resolve eventually. Mirtle writes that everyone is waiting for Marner to set the ceiling on what everyone else can earn, meaning there could be an avalanche coming whenever things are resolved in Toronto.

  • The New York Rangers have hired Gord Murphy as an associate coach for their AHL affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack. Murphy spent the last five years with the Philadelphia Flyers and has been in the NHL for nearly two decades as an assistant coach. In fact, he worked alongside new Wolf Pack head coach Kris Knoblauch in Philadelphia, meaning the two will have no trouble getting on the same page this year.
  • There are lots of questions surrounding how Vancouver Canucks head coach Travis Green will deploy his lineup this season, so Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet sat down with him to try and get some answers. Green is excited about getting players like J.T. Miller and Micheal Ferland into their group this season as they can play both checking and scoring roles. Quite simply, when asked about having enough talent to surround Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat on the top two lines Green responded “I do.” Green also admitted that he still hasn’t spoken to Loui Eriksson about the comments about how the two didn’t get along 100 per cent, though he is planning to when they next see each other.

Mitch Marner Deal Holding Up Other Restricted Free Agents

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If the Toronto Maple Leafs’ negotiations with Mitch Marner last as long as they did with William Nylander last season, many other NHL teams are going to be in trouble. According to The Athletic’s Joe Smith, many other agents are waiting to see how Marner’s deal shakes out before finalizing terms for their own top restricted free agent forwards. A surprising number of prominent RFA forwards remain unsigned and could stay that way until the Marner deal sets the market.

Writing specifically about the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team facing their own RFA conundrum with breakout center Brayden Point, Smith states that the team expects Point to be ready for camp in September, but agent Gerry Johansson is content with the “slow process”. The agents for Mikko Rantanen, Matthew Tkachuk, Kyle Connor, Brock Boeser, Patrik Laine, and Travis Konecny likely feel the same way and are apparently waiting to see where Marner, the best of the group, ends up before moving forward. In fact, Sportsnet’s Rick Dhaliwal also added today that things are very quiet around Boeser’s camp and he acknowledges that the process has been slow for most big-name RFA’s.

So what will be the first domino to fall? Will Marner really sign first and set the stage for everyone else? Or will another unsigned star finally budge and give the market a much-needed comparable? While Marner, who recorded 94 points in 82 games last year, is the most established player and considered the top RFA who would be the ceiling for the market, he was actually quite comparable to Rantanen and Point last season. However, the rest of the group could benefit from any of the group signing a contract to use as a point of comparison. At this point in the summer, the odds are high that at least one of these negotiations will last into the regular season. But if the reports are true that the market waits on Marner, those teams with top unsigned RFA forwards better hope that Toronto and their star winger are closer than it seems.

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