Las Vegas – The Front Office of the Golden Knights of Vegas spent the second day of the NHL decentralized draft on the second floor of their practice center. The team made four choices on Saturday, but spent part of the day discussing a business to acquire the rights of the free agent without restriction Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, League sources told Chris Johnston to Athletics.
Vegas Director of Vegas, Kelly McCrimmon and Toronto Managing Director Brad Treliving refused to discuss the potential agreement on Saturday afternoon.
“I’m not going to comment,” Treliving told journalists in Toronto. “I think you would always like to get something (in a business), right? It is not always the case, but it’s as far as I want to get it. We will see how things are going.”
McCrimmon began his press conference after the deadline saying: “I know you will have questions that we will have in time … Regarding the Libre Agency and our list speculations that are at different times surrounding our team.”
Darren Dreger de TSN Report Saturday night That there was more work to do so that the trade occurs, but there are two days before Marner became a free agent on July 1.
If the trade is finished, it would allow Vegas to sign Marner before hitting the free market. Marner is the best player available in this free agent class, and reporting it would add to the already impressive list of vegas success in recent years.
In terms of match, it makes sense for both sides. The most obvious need of Vegas, after having bowed the playoffs in the second round to Edmonton, is an offensive firepower on the wing, and Marner adapts perfectly.
He finished fifth in the NHL by scoring this year with 102 points, and his 741 points have been the most important by a wing since he entered the League in 2016-2017. His 520 assists during this period are third among the wingers behind Nikita Kucherov of Tampa Bay and Artemi Panarin of the New York Rangers.
Marner is an elite playmaker on the wing, which is what the Golden Knights need the most.
In addition to that, it would be a good choice for the group before vegas with a defensive spirit, which already presents solid double -meaning players such as Jack Eichel, Mark Stone and William Karlsson. Marner received votes for the Selke trophy for seven consecutive seasons and was a finalist for the prize – awarded to the best defensive striker in the League – in 2023. He led all the Maple Leafs attackers in minutes of penalty this season, and was one of Toronto’s most approved killers in recent years.
Marner was also excellent on the power game for the Maple Leafs, after having exceeded 20 points of power of power with each season of his career (excluding the shortcut 2020-21). He scored six goals and 27 assists with an advantage of man in 2024-25, and added to the Vegas power game unit.
There is no doubt that the addition of a game player like Marner would make Vegas more dangerous. The biggest questions are: why abandon commercial assets when it should arrive on the free market in less than three days, and how does it all work under the salary ceiling?
The center of the fourth line of Vegas, Nicolas Roy, is part of the package that Vegas plans to send to Toronto, Johnston reported on Saturday. He has two years on his contract with a ceiling of $ 3 million, and although the Golden Knights should lose space to sign Marner, it looks like a high price to pay a player who will soon be available as a free agent.
Perhaps Vegas is looking for an eighth year on the next extension of Marner, which can only be accomplished by making him sign the agreement with the Maple Leafs before a business. Perhaps other teams try to negotiate the rights to marner before Vegas would have the possibility of signing it on the free market.
Losing Roy would harm Vegas’ depth, but if Marner continues to set up more than 100 points per season, it would be a small price to pay to guarantee his rights. Which brings us to the next point: How would the Golden Knights adapt to what expects a massive contract extension to marner in their already tight salary ceiling situation?
The ceiling bumps at 95.5 million dollars certainly helps, but assuming that Marner obtains between $ 12 and $ 14 million per year (its current projected market value), which would give Vegas nearly $ 50 million (more than half of the total ceiling) committed to only five players (Marner, Eichel, Stone, Alex Pietrangelo and Shea Theodore). Beyond that, Vegas would have more than $ 80 million (more than 80% of the ceiling) engaged in its best players, leaving little space to fill the rest of the list.
By putting aside any potential extension of marner for a minute, here is what the situation of CAP de Vegas looks like:
The Golden Knights currently have around $ 5.6 million in ceiling space, with 11 attackers, seven defenders and two guards on the list for 2025-26. This does not include agreements for restricted free agents pending Nicolas Hague, Jonas Rondbjerg, Cole Schwindt and Alexander Holtz. The salary of 3 million dollars of Roy for the property of this discussion, and that leaves them $ 8.6 million in the ceiling space.
Then there are questions surrounding Pietrangelo’s health, after dealing with injuries throughout the 2024-25 season.
“We will know more about it in the coming days,” said McCrimmon when he asked the status of Pietrangelo. “Alex and I had a number of discussions. There are decisions that must be made. ”
If Pietrangelo was to land on the long -term injured reserve, this would open $ 8.8 million in ceiling space, leaving Vegas with $ 17.4 million before a possible agreement with Marner. It would not be a lot of space to sign Marner, another defender (be hey or a free agent), and another striker, but it would be doable.
After all, it is the Golden Knights of Vegas, who have been known for a long time to show creativity when it comes to operating all the figures. Anyway, there is no doubt that this list has become heavier in recent years and, therefore, depth has suffered.
The group of high -end Elite players – who would not be stronger than adding Marner – to prevail over these shortcomings? The answer to this question would not only define the 2025-26 season of the Golden Knights, but the rest of their championship window.
(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
