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“No team is in a better position than the Hurricanes to sign Mitch Marner”
Félix Forget
“No team is in a better position than the Hurricanes to sign Mitch Marner”
Credit: Getty Images
Last March, we came very close to a major league transaction in the NHL. Mikko Rantanen, who was a member of the Hurricanes, didn’t want to sign there long-term… and the Maple Leafs were interested in his services.

Who could have gone the other way? None other than Mitch Marner… who refused to lift his non-movement clause.

They then tried to pass it off as a three-team deal in which Marner would have gone to Vegas, but that didn’t work out either. Imagine how much that big three-team deal would have changed things in the NHL.

Now, here we are a few months later… and Marner is on the verge of becoming a free agent. And while everyone’s wondering where he’ll continue his career, Jeff Marek had this to say on his The Sheet podcast… and he said this:

No team is in a better position to sign Mitch Marner than the Hurricanes. – Jeff Marek

And that, of course, is peculiar given that we know Marner refused to be traded there just a few months ago. So it’s fair to wonder why he’d be interested in going (long-term) this time around… but the reality is that the forward’s situation is no longer the same.

Let’s not forget that, at the time, he was about to become a father, and it’s easy to imagine that this played a part in the decision. Moving the whole family when his wife was about to give birth wasn’t ideal for him.

But now that the baby boy is born, it’s easier for Marner and his family to consider moving. And now we have to wonder to what extent his refusal to lift his non-movement clause last March was solely linked to the forthcoming birth of his son.

Because if it was, the Hurricanes have every reason to believe in their chances. They have the money to make him a competitive offer, they’ve already demonstrated their interest and, unlike many other teams who are likely to be in the derby, they’re already a competitive team.

I don’t know if I’d go so far as to say that the Canes are “the best team” to sign Marner, but don’t be too quick to assume that he’d refuse to settle there long-term just because he turned down a deal that would have sent him to Raleigh just a few months ago.

Plus, in Carolina, he wouldn’t be too out of place: there too, the club tends to fall apart in the playoffs, hehe.


Overtime

– Interesting.

– Remember that the draft is less than 20 days away.

– Ah.

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