According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Vegas Golden Knights and Toronto Maple Leafs are in active negotiations for a sign-and-trade deal that would see Mitch Marner end up in Nevada. Friedman followed up on the initial report, stating that forward Nicolas Roy is expected to be part of the return to Toronto if a deal is finalized. A few moments later, TSN’s Bruce Garrioch reported that the Maple Leafs requested defenseman Nicolas Hague in the return as well.
Although sign-and-trades of this caliber are exceptionally rare, the Golden Knights’ motivation to make the move now, instead of pursuing Marner for nothing in a few days, is likely twofold. Acquiring him with a new contract in place now eliminates all competition for his services, and would allow Vegas to add an eighth year to his contract via Toronto.
Besides the magnitude of the hypothetical trade, the news comes with little surprise. The Golden Knights are no stranger to making sizeable additions to the roster and have been linked to Marner by various outlets for several weeks.
Depending on the dollar amount for Marner’s next deal, Vegas should be able to get a deal done rather comfortably. Assuming Roy is in the trade, the Golden Knights would have approximately $8.6M available in cap space, with an additional $8.8M available if defenseman Alex Pietrangelo is headed for the long-term injured reserve.
Adding Marner to a forward core that already includes Jack Eichel and Mark Stone would be enough to create one of the most dynamic offenses in the league. Eichel was the team’s leader in points this past season, scoring 28 goals and 94 points in 77 games. Meanwhile, Marner recently concluded the best individual season of his career, scoring 27 goals and 102 points in 81 contests with a +18 rating.
