Anaheim Ducks 'willing to pay big money' to Maple Leafs' Mitch Marner, claims NHL insider

Mitch Marner has the hockey world in the palm of his hand.

The Maple Leafs’ superstar winger is a pending unrestricted free agent, set to hit the open market on July 1. His tenure in Toronto appears to be coming to an end, as both sides have finally realized a parting of ways would be best.

Now that the 28-year-old is likely to be a free man, speculation has run wild regarding where his new home will be. The no-tax state teams across the league have been mentioned, but now some other destinations are beginning to be floated in the rumor.

The latest to be linked to Marner are the Anaheim Ducks. Having just hired Joel Quenneville as their head coach, the Ducks are looking to return to contention and have plenty of cap space to improve their roster this summer.

NHL insider Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff provided the update on "The FAN Morning Show" on Wednesday. NHL Rumour Report reposted his comments on X (formerly Twitter).

"The Anaheim Ducks are a team to watch for Mitch Marner in addition to Vegas; Anaheim offers more anonymity and willing to pay big money," Seravalli said.

Marner just played out the final season of the six-year, $65,408,000 contract extension he signed with the Maple Leafs in 2019.

Mitch Marner was almost traded to Vegas last offseason

Recent reports are suggesting that the Vegas Golden Knights inquired about trading for Mitch Marner last offseason. According to NHL insider David Pagnotta of "The Fourth Period," Marner would have been willing to make it happen.

Leafs Latest shared Pagnotta’s comments on the matter from an appearance on "The Leafs Nation" on X.

"Last summer, there were teams that inquired about Mitch Marner, and Vegas was one of them. They obviously didn’t get there, but I believe Vegas would have been a team he would’ve waived to at that time. I fully believe Vegas is a team he’d be interested in signing with this summer," Pagnotta said.

"How they pull that off — it’s going to take a lot of juggling—but you can’t count out Vegas when it comes to making those big-time, big-time splashes. They’ve done it pretty much every year since they entered the league," Pagnotta added.

You have to imagine that the Golden Knights will poke around on Marner as a free agent this summer; they are certainly a team to watch in these sweepstakes.

Buckle up, as more reports and rumors will surely emerge around Marner and his future in the coming weeks.