NHL Rumors: Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Colorado Avalanche

Do the Maple Leafs and Avalanche have internal caps when dealing with pending UFAs Mitch Marner and Mikko Rantanen?

TSN: Pierre LeBrun said that it’s more likely than not that pending UFAs Mitch Marner and Mikko Rantanen re-sign with their respective teams. It likely won’t be easy for the teams considering the kind of have an internal ceiling with Auston Matthews at $13.25 and Nathan MacKinnon at $12.6 million. That will likely be brought up by the teams if they haven’t already, but the player agents may have their own arguments.

“One is those extensions were signed and since then the salary cap landscape has changed dramatically. The cap is going way up here over the next few years.

NHL Rumors: Mitch Marner’s Gaining Leverage Over the Toronto Maple Leafs

Number two, those agents, for sure, will talk about percentage of the cap, not necessarily the actual AAV. And so, this negotiation, to me, both for Rantanen and for Marner, is going to be so interesting where it ends up.

Can the Leafs get Mitch Marner at $13 million or less? Can the Avalanche get Rantanen at $12.6 million or less?”

LeBrun thinks that Rantanen’s camp believes they can get $14 million if they go to the open market.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and John Tavares are talking extension

TSN: The Toronto Maple Leafs and pending UFA John Tavares have held contract talks but aren’t at the point where both sides are comfortable with the deal that is on the table according to Chris Johnston. Tavares wants to remain a Leaf and isn’t interested in free agency and they may need to defer some salary to make it work.

“One thing that’s popped up as a possibility here is using deferred salary compensation as a way, perhaps, to bridge some of the financial gap that exists today.

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You’ll remember the Leafs did use this with Jake McCabe, lowering his cap hit on the extension he signed in October. Carolina did it with a couple players over the summer.”

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