Two Stanley Cup Contenders Emerge as Favourites to Land Leafs' Mitch Marner

With the Mitch Marner sweepstakes heating up, it's sounding more and more likely that the star winger won't be returning to Toronto with recent reports suggesting a couple of rival teams are in line as potential landing spots.

Jeff Marek lists the Carolina Hurricanes as the team that makes the most sense for Marner this summer, whereas James Mirtle of The Athletic believes that Marner himself has the Florida Panthers very high on his list.

It would be truly gut-wrenching for the Maple Leafs if Marner decided to sign with the Panthers, considering their rivalry and Florida having created an absolute juggernaut in recent years.

On the other hand, Marner choosing the Hurricanes would be a slap in the face considering he blocked a trade to Carolina ahead of the trade deadline that could have netted the Leafs Mikko Rantanen.

One thing that could work in their favour is that there's going to be a lot of teams involved and some are suggesting that Los Angeles and Anaheim are willing to make him the highest paid player in the league with a contract worth over $14 million per season.

Perhaps Marner will be more inclined to go out West and chase the bag instead of going to a potential rival in the East.

Nevertheless, the Maple Leafs are going to have to face a harsh reality, should Marner decide to sign with a team like the Panthers or another Eastern Conference threat in Carolina. They technically both have the salary cap to make it work as well, so it will be interesting to see how things shake up leading into the draft.

Coming off a career-high 75 assists and 102 points, Marner is going to be the most sought after free agent since John Tavares in 2018 or Artemi Panarin in 2019, which could incidentally lead to the biggest bidding war in league history - something Toronto needs to stay far away from, unfortunately.