Golden Knights Officially Free Up Enough Cap Space to Acquire and Extend Mitch Marner

The Maple Leafs are anticipating a busy week ahead after it was announced this week by GM Brad Treliving that Mitch Marner is more likely than not to leave Toronto this summer.

The Leafs are believed to be currently attempting to negotiate a sign-and-trade scenario for Marner with the Vegas Golden Knights that would allow them to recoup some assets for Marner before he walks for nothing on July 1st.

A part of the reason why Vegas is willing to work with the Leafs is in a rumoured attempt to avoid a tampering charge, with the league looking to crack down on tampering and make an example of anyone who attempts to get a dishonest jump on conducting their buainess with UFAs ahead of July 1st.

One of the main hurdles for Vegas in a potential Marner sign-and-trade is, of course, the salary cap. However, as The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta reported on Sunday, the Golden Knights are about to have a significant amount of cap space opening up with Alex Pietrangelo headed to LTIR for the duration of the 2025-26 season, and perhaps even longer.

According to Pagnotta, Pietrangelo requires multiple major surgeries that may even put his career in jeopardy.

With Pietrangelo headed to LTIR, it will free up an additional $8.8M in cap space, which they can add to their current $7.6M in cap space to put the finishing touches on their roster.

Marner was rumoured to be seeking $14M or more per season on the open market. However, there were rumblings yesterday that if he does opt to sign in Nevada, a no-tax State, he could land at around $12M per season.