Colorado Avalanche: Are Marner Demands Holding up Rantanen Contract?

Negotiations between the Colorado Avalanche and star winger Mikko Rantanen seem to be stalled by Mitch Marner’s contractual demands on Toronto.

The Colorado Avalanche have today to sign Mikko Rantanen in time to get him here for training camp. Yeah, that’s probably not happening. It’s more important to see him on opening night in October, but, boy, I hate to see players miss scheduled activities with the team.

The general consensus among pundits and Connor McDavid is that once one of the prize restricted free agents signs, they’ll all fall into place like dominoes.

The names on the unsigned RFAs list includes Brock Boeser, Charlie McAvoy, and Patrik Laine, but the big holdup seems to be Mitch Marner.

The joke in hockey fandom is that Toronto fans and pundits can turn anything around to “But how does that affect the Leafs?” Well, in an unfunny turning of the tables, we get to ask how the Leafs’ woes affect the Avalanche.

Right now, it sounds like Mitch Marner is demanding the moon from the Toronto Maple Leafs. According to Sportsnet, it’s thought Marner is asking for a three-year bridge deal that finishes with a $15 million payout the final year.

Fifteen. Million. Dollars. That’s what the Edmonton Oilers had to shell out to Connor McJesus to keep him from bolting at the first chance. That’s more than what Alexander Ovechkin makes.

That’s a lot more than either Auston Matthews ($11.63 million) or John Tavares ($11 million) makes. Granted, that’s just the ask for the final year, but we remember what a bottom-heavy contract did in the Ryan O’Reilly situation. (Reminder: Salary arbitration and eventual acrimonious trade.)

I’m not going to sit here and type about whether Mitch Marner deserves that kind of payout because obviously I don’t think he should be paid the same as generational talents such as McDavid or more than generational talent Matthews.

I’m just going to bemoan the fact that those notable RFAs seem to be waiting for the Marner contract to get done, and I don’t see how it can with that kind of demand on a very cap-stressed Toronto team or, frankly, any GM with a brain in his head.

In other words, yes, I think the Marner demands are holding up the Rantanen contract. If it weren’t for that factoid, I wouldn’t give two cat butts what Mitch wanted out of Toronto.

More from Mile High Sticking

At this point I… am starting to get a little frustrated with Mikko Rantanen, too. I doubt his demands are anywhere near as ridiculous as Marner’s. And I like the kid and want to see him do well.

However, making $8 – $10 million over the next three years is damn fine for a 22-year-old whose talent is whacking a rubber disc around on the ice. Yes, I pay to watch young men do that, but… I also wish teachers, nurses, firefighters, etc, got 1/10th of that kind of salary for much more important work.

By the same respect, I… am starting to get a little frustrated with GM Joe Sakic, et al. The man is much harder nosed as a GM than he ever was as a player. Case in point (get ready to hate in the comments section), he forced Patrick Roy out. He also took O’Reilly and Tyson Barrie to arbitration and let Nikita Zadorov miss camp because of a $250,000 differential.

It’s not your money, Joe. Just throw a bit of it at Rantanen to get him here in time for at least some of the preseason games.

Altitude TV Should Stream Online. dark. Next

I just wish Rantanen and the Colorado Avalanche would find their own path rather than playing the waiting game with the Marner contract. And while we’re at it, can Stan Kroenke just buy a TV station already and stream Altitude? Because at this point, the Avs and Rantanen are going to get a deal done just in time for the games to be blacked out in Colorado.

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