The Detroit Red Wings season is now over, and they will look to the offseason to improve the team to get into the playoffs for the 2024-2025 season. There is one player that is now rumored to be moved this offseason and that is Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner. Should the Detroit Red Wings pursue Marner in a trade?
Marner is entering his final year of a 6-year deal and will have a hefty cap hit of $10.9 million. With Auston Matthews and William Nylander extensions set to kick in this upcoming season, it may make sense for the Maple Leafs to move on from Marner. Marner does have a no trade clause so he can void any trade if he prefers to stay in Toronto.
Now, it will cost a lot to get Marner, especially if there is a verbal agreement to an extension since he is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2025. The Toronto Maple Leafs will most likely want a top forward or defenseman in return since they are in a win now mode. Draft picks and prospects may not move the needle much in a trade for Marner. A player like Moritz Seider or Dylan Larkin, is most likely who the Maple Leafs would want in return. However, that may be too much for Steve Yzerman and the Red Wings. Marner scored 26 goals and 59 assists in 69 games in the 2023-2024 season. Marner's career high in goals is 35 and points is 99 and he has averaged more than one point per game in his career.
With Marner soon to be a free agent, he would need an extension and he has only gotten better since his last contract, so his cap hit on his new contract should surpass $10.9 million. If you include this with what it will cost to get him in a trade, this may be a trade that the Red Wings will pass on but only time will tell if the Maple Leafs will place him on the trade block and if the Red Wings will have any interest.
