A team that may be interested in Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner is the Chicago Blackhawks.
The Blackhawks are one of eight teams that “could or should” consider acquiring the Maple Leafs star if he becomes available, according to Shayna Goldman of The Athletic.
According to Goldman, “Chicago has the cap space to extend Marner to a high number on his next contract.” “But should we be looking for a player like that right now?”
Naturally, that is the primary inquiry the Blackhawks ought to pose to themselves. Without a doubt, Chicago has the cap space necessary to finalize Marner’s trade and extend his contract before it expires. How Marner’s career lines up (or doesn’t) with the Blackhawks’ contending timeline is a whole other story.
In any case, Chicago will have only 15 players under contract going into the offseason, despite having $32.9 million in cap space.
Possible Interest from the Chicago Blackhawks in Marner
Connor Bedard, the No. 1 pick in 2023, is leading the Blackhawks, who have a bright future despite having the second-worst record in the NHL after the season.
Nevertheless, Chicago’s management needs to consider if they are prepared to bring in a player of Marner’s caliber at this point of rebuilding.
Taken entirely out of context, no team would turn down the chance to sign a player with Marner’s caliber (almost a 100-point scorer), but when time constraints are taken into account, things get different.
The team’s development and on-ice performance might be greatly enhanced by acquiring Marner, but there is a big difference between that and actually winning the postseason and going far in it.
In his column, Goldman compared the Blackhawks to the Anaheim Ducks. She pondered whether it was appropriate to proceed with this kind of transaction in her writing on the later. She continued by saying Chicago and Anaheim had “similar questions.”
“Is there enough promise for Anaheim’s future?” Goldman penned. Conversely, would it be too soon to add a difference-maker like Marner at this time, or are they prepared to do so?
Is it the end of Mitch Marner’s time in Toronto?
Marner’s tenure with the Maple Leafs has been noteworthy, and in September 2019, he was awarded a six-year contract at an average of $10.9 million annually. Toronto will either need to trade him before his deal expires in 2025, extend it, or take the chance of losing him for nothing.
Following the conclusion of the 2024 season, Marner signed a contract extension with the Maple Leafs, expressing his desire to stay with the team.
In his farewell interview on May 6, Marner stated, “The goal is to be with Toronto long term.”
After acquiring Marner, the Blackhawks may use their cap space to give him a longer contract. But before that could occur, Marner would have to give his full waiver of the No-Movement Clause in order to accept the deal. That would rely on how Marner saw Chicago.
“It could be intriguing to play with Connor Bedard for many years to come,” Goldman wrote. “But even with Marner joining the team, Chicago is currently further out of the playoff picture than Anaheim and still has a long way to go in their rebuild.”
Marner, who missed a month of the 2024–25 season because of a severe ankle injury, had a successful regular season, collecting 85 points in 69 games.
In his 68 games as a rookie with the Hakws, Bedard got 61 points, which he split between 22 goals and 39 assists. But Chicago was so dreadful that in 1,345 minutes of play, Bedard could only manage a terrible minus-44 plus-minus.
How Would Mitch Marner Join the Blackhawks?
According to Goldman, if the Blackhawks decide to keep a portion of Seth Jones’ contract, they could be able to offer him or perhaps the right-handed defender Connor Murphy. On May 21, Scott Powers of The Athletic suggested dealing Jones for Marner.
Nonetheless, Godlman believes that Marner’s approval of the deal is the primary issue.
Goldman noted, “The real question is whether Marner would want to go to a team so far removed from the playoff mix.”
According to Mike Zeisberger of NHL.com, general manager Brad Treliving stated, “Everything must be on the table,” during the Leafs’ end-of-season media availability in May. Treliving stated on May 10 that “everything must be on the table when you go through a season as we have.” “Everything must be examined. Everything must be taken into account.
It’s reasonable to believe that things may move considerably faster if this transaction revealed Toronto’s unique feelings on Marner and his future. That isn’t the case, though.
We must consider every avenue to improve our team’s performance. On June 3, Treliving told Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, “Mitch controls a lot of this whole thing.” “We’re not going to trade just to make a show of our differences by pounding our chests,”
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