After nine seasons in Toronto, Mitch Marner is moving on.
The Toronto Maple Leafs signed Marner to an eight-year, $96 million deal and then dealt the 28-year-old to the Vegas Golden Knights for forward Nicolas Roy.
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Marner was set to become an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday and Marner and the Maple Leafs had already come to an agreement that the forward would not return to Toronto. As per the Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams can sign their own players for a maximum of eight years. Since the Maple Leafs still held his rights until July 1, he was able to sign and get that eighth year.
Had Marner signed anywhere else in free agency, he would have only been able to guarantee a maximum of seven years as part of any new contract.
On Saturday, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that Toronto and Vegas were in talks on the deal. Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving chose not to comment on the trade Saturday, but did tell reporters that the team would rather get something for Marner rather than letting his contract expire, via The Hockey News’ David Alter.
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Marner, a Toronto area native who was drafted by his hometown team in 2015, was the Maple Leafs’ leading scorer last season, putting up 102 points, with a career-high 75 assists. He has 741 career points in the NHL.
But Marner has faced a lot of pressure while playing for Toronto. For years, the Maple Leafs have fallen short in the playoffs, failing to make it past the second round since 2001; much of that playoff pressure had fallen on Marner.
This season, after winning the Atlantic Division with a 52-26 record, Toronto beat the Ottawa Senators in the First Round, but fell to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers after forcing a Game 7.
Toronto has tried to take chances to alter the team’s postseason success, most recently choosing not to renew the contract of team president Brendan Shanahan in May. As NHL free agency begins, Treliving has already re-signed John Tavares and Matthew Knies, while also acquiring Matias Maccelli from Utah.
