3x Stanley Cup Champ 'no way paying' Mitch Marner $14M AAV, advises investing in Sam Bennett instead

We are just over a week away from NHL free agency, when players like Mitch Marner and Sam Bennett, among others, can officially sign wherever they want.

These two headline the 2025 UFA class but are polar opposites in terms of their style of play and situation.

Marner is supremely talented but has struggled in the playoffs, which is leading to a breakup in Toronto. On the other hand, Bennett thrives in the postseason and has been a major part of the Panthers' back-to-back Stanley Cup victories, so of course, they want to keep him.

The debate will continue on until decisions are made, but one former NHLer and three-time Stanley Cup Champion, Ken Daneyko, made his feelings very clear about which pending UFA he would sign. NHL Network shared the clip on X (formerly Twitter).

"I've said it many times over the last week, and this is nothing against Mitch Marner. I am in no way paying Mitch Marner $14 million. I'm talking about building my team, and am I going to win it all? It's about winning the Stanley Cup and paying Mitch Marner 14 million. I just don't see it. God bless him. If he gets it, he's a heck of a player, and he's going to help some team make the playoffs, and maybe in the right situation, he will produce in the playoffs, but I'm just not doing it. I can't, in good conscience, give him that kind of money. That's just my view, and I think he's a terrific hockey player, don't get me wrong," Daneyko said. "But if I'm overpaying a guy, which is an overpayment for me, I get the caps going up. I get it, timing is everything, and he's had a good time here where there are not a lot of top-end free agents. I'm just not giving him 14 million bucks because I just don't think it's conducive for my team to have him make that kind of money. I kind of slot my guys. And I'll overpay guys that maybe are a 60-point guy or 50-point guy like Sam Bennett, because I know what I'm getting," Daneyko added.

Marner is coming off a six-year, $65,408,000 contract extension signed with the Maple Leafs in 2019 that paid him $10.9 million per season.

Mitch Marner is considering all of his options

While the consensus has been that Mitch Marner will depart Toronto and sign long-term elsewhere, it sounds like he's still mulling it all over.

TSN hockey insider Pierre LeBrun recently provided an update that the 28-year-old is considering signing a short-term contract instead. Leafs Latest shared his comments on X.

"Mitch Marner is considering a potential two-year deal worth around $12–13 million per season, setting himself up to hit the market again when the cap jumps to $113 million or more. The risk is injury, but at 28, he’d be 30 when hitting UFA status again. The Golden Knights, Kings, and Stars are believed to be high on his list," LeBrun said.

This certainly would be a risky move by Mitch Marner, but with the large expected increase in the salary cap, it could pay off in a big way.

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Edited by Jackson Weber