Bidding war brewing for Maple Leafs star Mitch Marner

Marner took a ton of heat following the Maple Leafs' first round loss to the Boston Bruins, largely because of his enormous salary not lining up with his on-ice contributions when the games really begin to matter.

Marner managed just 3 points across 7 games against Boston in Round 1, which is a big reason why his team was unable to overcome adversity and sway the result of 1 single game in the series, which would have made all of the difference.

When you're making $10.9M per season, you have to make a difference in every game. However, for Marner, you'd need a magnifying glass to have spotted him in the first round against Boston. He played small, hesitant and did not show the same creativity that he had shown during the regular season.

Now, a change appears more likely than ever in Toronto and Marner could be the odd man out.

If Marner does agree to waive his no-movement clause, there will be no shortage of teams interested in enlisting his services. As is evidence from the post below, there are a lot of writers in a lot of markets who are salivating over the opportunity to acquire a player like Marner, even with his playoff warts.

Some of the titles include:

"The Wild Should Target Mitch Marner in a Blockbuster Trade"

"Should the Red Wings Pursue a Mitch Marner Trade?"

"Kings Should Look into Mitch Marner if He's Available"

and

"Penguins Have Pieces for Blockbuster Mitch Marner Trade"

So far, bloggers and reporters in the Philadelphia, Nashville, Minnesota, Detroit, Chicago, Edmonton, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Columbus and Washington markets have had a hay day with their petitions to bring Mitch Marner to their respective cities. That's nearly 1/3 of the league whose fanbases are pining over Marner - and chances are, there are a lot more as well.

If Marner does opt to waive his NMC for a trade to another organization this summer, he'll probably only agree to waive for a limited number of teams, who play in a more favourable location to he and his wife, which would cut the list of teams down exponentially, which could impact the overall value of the return for the Leafs.

However, if Marner is willing to keep an open mind, we may very well see a bidding war form this summer - especially if the Leafs can facilitate an 8-year extension as a part of the deal.