Maple Leafs Urged to Act Quickly on Mitch Marner and Matthew Knies After Latest Elliotte Friedman Report
Elliotte Friedman is a trusted veteran of the hockey media world, and with his reports about the new salary cap, Toronto needs to act quickly to avoid disaster.
A lot of talk about just how well the NHL is doing when it comes to revenue has led to speculation that the salary cap might be on the rise. Although projected to be under $93M, the explosion of income for the league may push that into a much higher figure.
Per Elliotte Friedman, who appeared during during Hockey Night in Canada's broadcast reported that the salary cap could exponentially rise next season and that teams should be prepared for a sudden influx in cash:
Friedman is of course referring to the pandemic that affected the world for several years and is still somewhat prevalent today.
He continued:
While Friedman did say that nothing is set in stone, things are trending towards discussion and implementing some type of plan:
What This Means For The Maple Leafs
It means they need to get things going, and fast. Not only does this potential increase in money benefit them, but it also benefits every other team in the league.
If they don't act fast, they could lose out on Mitch Marner due to a much more lucrative offer. They could also potentially lose standout forward Matthew Knies; an RFA who could command serious money from an offer sheet.
Toronto now also needs to figure out who they are going to keep around for the long term, and knowing the money gets bigger, do they end up cutting ties with some pieces now in hopes for the future, or do they put their eggs in one basket and risk losing out on that future.
There's also the question of John Tavares and where he will end up, and though he will gladly take a hometown discount, it's nowhere near the amount necessary to facilitate a massive signing.
It's a tough task, especially considering that Marner has put the team on his back in the wake of Auston Matthews' injury and has proven he can lead on his own.
Toronto can also use this money to take a look at some other holes in their lineup and spend the money there. They already have their defense and goaltending locked up for the foreseeable future (don't be surprised to see an Anthony Stolarz extension as well next year), so why not splurge a bit on defensive centers, reliable scorers, or perhaps go big and sign someone like Mikko Rantanen.
Either way you slice it, Toronto needs to be careful with how they approach this increase in flexibility. Not only can they use it to make their team the most complete it's ever been, but it can backfire spectacularly as they face an unmitigated disaster.
| POLL | ||
Should the Maple Leafs act quickly and sign Marner and Knies? | ||
| Yes quickly! | 1331 | 77.5 % |
| No it'll cost too much even with the extra | 130 | 7.6 % |
| Sign Only Marner | 49 | 2.9 % |
| Sign Only Knies | 207 | 12.1 % |
| List of polls | ||
