NHL Rumors: Elliotte Friedman doesn't rule out Ducks chasing Mitch Marner, $77M ex-Leafs captain following Chris Kreider trade

There could be more blockbuster trades coming out of Anaheim after the Ducks' acquisition of Chris Kreider from the New York Rangers. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said that he wouldn't rule out the Ducks making a run at Toronto Maple Leafs superstars Mitch Marner and John Tavares.

Marner has been the subject of trade rumors after the Leafs' playoff exit. The belief is that Marner won't re-sign with the Leafs when his contract expires after this season.

John Tavares’s seven-year, $77 million contract expires after this season. If the Leafs don’t re-sign them, both players will hit free agency on July 1. On his 32 Thoughts podcast, Elliotte Friedman said:

“I think we're still expecting them to take a run at Marner. I've actually wondered if Toronto and Tavares don't work this out, and there's still time here, if Anaheim would be a team that would take a shot at Tavares too"

Marner has 75 assists and 102 points this season, while Tavares scored 38 goals with 74 points this year.

The Ducks have ample cap space ($32,188,812 per PuckPedia) to sign both Marner and Tavares to big-money, long-term deals. Friedman said that Anaheim general manager Pat Verbeek is clearly in go-for-it mode after dealing for Kreider.

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Mitch Marner's next contract to be more than $14M

NHL insider David Pagnotta reports that the Carolina Hurricanes are willing to go all-in on Mitch Marner, potentially offering him a long-term contract worth more than $14 million per year.

Edmonton's Leon Draisaitl is the league's highest paid player at $14 million cap. However, with the salary cap steadily rising — from $88 million this season to $95.5 million in 2025-26 and projected to hit $113.5 million by 2027-28 — teams will have much more flexibility to offer massive contracts.

"When/if Mitch Marner hits the open market July 1, the expectation is the Carolina Hurricanes are going to take a massive swing to try and sign him. Sources say we shouldn’t be surprised if they go above $14M on an AAV over a 7-year term. UFA market opens in 18 days," Pagnotta said.

If the Hurricanes do in fact offer Mitch Marner a seven-year deal worth over $14 million per season, it would set a new high mark for annual player salary in the NHL.