Mitch Marner willingness to sign with Edmonton Oilers revealed by insider
Photo credit: USA Today Sports
Toronto Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner is poised to hit free agency on July 1st, and new reports suggest he will not sign with the Edmonton Oilers or any other Canadian team.
Some reports had linked the Oilers as a primary suitor for Marner, especially after they reportedly had a contract in line for a discussed Mikko Rantanen trade.
Mitch Marner reportedly unwilling to sign with Canadian team in free agency
According to reports from Daily Faceoff's Anthony Di Marco, NHL executives believe Marner will not play for any Canadian team if he leaves Toronto.
Obviously this makes sense for Marner, who looks to be crumbling under the pressure of the Toronto market. If he does walk from the Leafs, he will prefer a market where he isn't grilled on his failures to perform in the playoffs.
For that very reason, it's possible the Oilers wouldn't be interested in signing Marner at all. They're looking to be perennial Cup Contenders and deal with plenty of pressure from the Edmonton media. Paying a player $13M+ who can't handle the pressure or playoffs makes no sense.
And that is the conundrum of Mitch Marner. He's demanding one of the highest contracts in the NHL, but can't be relied upon to be a player to lead a team to a championship.
He's not worth $13M+ as a playoff ghost on a contender, and can't be worth $13M anywhere because he can't lead a team. He puts up lots of secondary assists in January on the powerplay though!
Leafs forward Marner has failed to show up in clutch games for 9 years
It's not just a small sample size of playoff failure anymore. It's been 9 years of Marner failing to show up even once in a high stakes game.
Against the Florida Panthers, his trends continued. Through Games 4-7, Marner had 1 assist, 3 shots on goal, and a -3 rating. By advanced metrics, he ranked as the 2nd worst forward in the series.
This isn't a player that thrives in a high pressure environment, and wouldn't be a good fit at all for the Edmonton Oilers. If the Leafs finally stop running it back, he'll sign with a quiet American market for the rest of his career, and he'll be better off for it.
| POLL | ||
MAI 22 | 979 ANSWERS Mitch Marner willingness to sign with Edmonton Oilers revealed by insider Do you think Mitch Marner will leave the Toronto Maple Leafs? | ||
| Yes | 917 | 93.7 % |
| No | 62 | 6.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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