Insider Trading: Marner's move to Vegas, Florida's 'masterclass' steals the spotlight

The TSN Hockey Insiders discuss the Maple Leafs sending Mitch Marner to Vegas in a sign and trade deal, how the Panthers were able to complete a hat trick of signings on their pending UFAs, the market for Flames D Rasmus Andersson, the Oilers inking Evan Bouchard to a four-year extension, and more.

Maple Leafs, Golden Knights swing sign and trade for Marner

GINO REDA: They are the Insiders, Chris Johnston, Pierre LeBrun, and Darren Dreger.

Mitch Marner is on his way to Vegas, who would have thought? Well Dregs, you’ve been talking about this developing story for days now, but how did it finally all come together?

DARREN DREGER: Well, Gino, given the circumstances obviously with free agency looming, I think it’s the best case scenario for all three parties here.

You start with Mitch Marner, he wanted a change and he had basically an open book as a pending unrestricted free agent. The Toronto Maple Leafs needed to get something back, they weren’t going to get something back. Marner could have walked entirely into free agency, and instead, Nicolas Roy comes back to the Toronto Maple Leafs via trade and they get a quality forward, this is a serviceable centre that Craig Berube is going to be able to lean on.

In Mitch Marner, the Vegas Golden Knights get a player they’ve coveted from quite some time. They’ve made multiple gestures in the past year or so to try and trade for, acquire Mitch Marner, and in the process, Toronto signs Marner to the mega contract so there’s a deep investment for Marner and from the Vegas Golden Knights.

CHRIS JOHNSTON: Well, that’s the other thing Marner gets here is that big contract that you’re alluding to, Dregs. It’s a $12 million a year deal on an eight-year term and that’s something he couldn’t have gotten if he didn’t do a sign and trade. 

What it does is it brings him even with Mikko Rantanen, those are the same terms that Mikko signed when he got traded to Dallas just ahead of the trade deadline and it makes him and Mikko, equally, the highest-paid wingers in the league.

The only players above them currently on AAV are all centres, they’ve all won a Hart Trophy. We’re talking [Nathan] MacKinnon, [Auston] Matthews, [Connor] McDavid, and [Leon] Draisaitl. This is a rich contract for Mitch Marner and it’s going to take his career earnings past $160 million when all is said and done, so that’s pretty good for one of the stars of the league.

PIERRE LeBRUN: Probably the most disappointed team among the would-be suitors for Mitch Marner is the Los Angeles Kings. 

The Kings had been made aware that they were on Mitch Marner’s shortlist and they were supposed to fly into the Toronto area to meet with Mitch Marner on Wednesday. They were going to fly in on the night of July 1, Ken Holland and a Kings contingent, and make a pretty serious presentation and offer to him, but obviously, that flight has been canceled.

Panthers keep all three pending UFAs

REDA: Elsewhere, Bill Zito? Miracle worker. The trifecta of big pending UFAs all locked up long term.

[Brad] Marchand, six years, $5.25 [million]. [Aaron] Ekblad, eight years, $6.1 [million]. [Sam] Bennett, eight years at $8 million. Three guys totalling just under $20 million per season. 

How did they make this all work, C.J.?

JOHNSTON: Well, I mean, Bill Zito is a miracle worker. It might be the best hat trick of the Panthers’ season and it was a pretty successful season. 

It was only two weeks ago, we were on the ice watching them celebrate the Stanley Cup and Bill Zito said to TSN that he was going to get all three of these guys. I didn’t think it was possible, I don’t think I was alone.

The way they ultimately did it is they used term to their advantage here. Aaron Ekblad, you know, there was some concerns, perhaps, about how he might age. Would they go with the shorter term deal? No, they give him the maximum length, eight-year contract. That helped them get his AAV to where it landed.

Brad Marchand, he’s 37 year old. We have never seen a player at this age get signed through age 43 on a six-year deal. That kept his AAV at a number that I never thought that we’d see for Marchand.

This is a great set of moves by Bill Zito and it’s done because these players believe in the program that he’s built down there in South Florida.

DREGER: Right, and now other general managers who maybe had the dream of landing Brad Marchand have to pivot. They’ve got to look at other options via trade or free agency because Marchand, clearly, is off the market now.

I think of Brad Treliving of the Toronto Maple Leafs, I think of Utah - who was rumoured to have considerable interest in Brad Marchand, adding another big forward piece - I think of the possible return of Brad Marchand to the Boston Bruins. Well, clearly, that is not going to happen. 

So, what could be interesting on July 1 as part of our coverage of Free Agent Frenzy on TSN is watching these general managers try and add volume as opposed to top-end talent.

Market for defencemen thinning ahead of Free Agent Frenzy

LeBRUN: With Aaron Ekblad taking his name off of the market, and of course, Ivan Provorov agreed to a seven-year extension, $8.5 million a year to stay in Columbus, two of the biggest names on the UFA D market, that was disappointing news for several teams that were hoping to upgrade their blue line on Tuesday when the market opened. 

It might also renew trade talks with teams circling back to Calgary and Ramsus Andersson, who of course, is not going to sign an extension in Calgary and could be dealt. 

But here’s the thing that’s making that situation complicated: Rasmus Andersson only wants to sign an extension, it’s our understanding, with the Vegas Golden Knights via trade.

There are teams like Ottawa, Columbus, LA that all made some serious overtures over the past week for Rasmus Andersson, but he’s not unrested in extending with those teams, and those teams aren’t going to pay the kind of price Calgary wants if they don’t know if they’re going to have him for more than a year.

So, it’s a complicated situation. Vegas likes him, we know they've lost Alex Pietrangelo now at least for next season, he’s going to LTIR. So the question is can Calgary and Vegas renew trade talks and find a trade. If not, Calgary is happy to have Andersson back in camp and start next year as a Calgary Flame.

Bouchard re-ups with Oilers

REDA: Still in Alberta, at $10.5 million per season, only Draisaitl and McDavid are going to be making more than Bouchard in Edmonton.

McDavid, currently No. 2 on that list, but the Oilers can bump him up to the top spot as soon as Canada Day, C.J.

JOHNSTON: They can, and look, this is a big piece of business. Getting Evan Bouchard signed was an absolute priority for Stan Bowman entering this offseason. They already got the Draisaitl extension done last September, that kicks in officially now. The next piece of business will ultimately be Connor McDavid.

But that’s still going to be one that you’re gonna have to wait on. The Oilers captain wants to sit back, let things matriculate a little bit. It’s not so long since their season ended again with disappointment in a loss in the Stanley Cup Final. I don’t expect, by any stretch, that this is something that we should have a timer set on. 

As for Bouchard, the Oilers would have loved to have got him signed even longer, but the number on that contract would have been very large, and so they split it down the middle, get a four-year deal done, and now the Oilers have to shed some more salary and try to find some more players. 

Canucks closing in on extension with Demko

DREGER: Yeah, the Edmonton Oilers getting business done with one of their primary free agents and the Vancouver Canucks are trying to do the same with star goaltender Thatcher Demko.

I believe that this contract extension is going to get done, probably doing some fine-tuning with some of the money, maybe the structure, but the Vancouver Canucks are still very much shopping for a centreman, as well.

Whether or not they can add that piece through free agency, there’s not a lot of centres available if you’re looking in the No. 2 spot in Vancouver or they can find that piece down the path of the offseason via trade. 

There’s still, very much, looking to augment in what they have up front in Vancouver.

REDA: Marner, Marchand, Ekblad were all amongst the most coveted players heading into free agency. 

Now that they’re all gone, don’t be surprised if we actually see things accelerate as teams scramble for the best of the rest.