With each passing day, the likelihood of Mitch Marner hitting free agency on July 1 is increasing. He is the most high-profile pending unrestricted free agent set to hit the market and is one of the most talented players to do so in recent memory, perhaps ever.
Marner is a recently turned 28-year-old winger (May 5) who has averaged over 1.2 points per game (98-point pace) over the last five seasons, has been the most-utilized Toronto Maple Leafs forward on the penalty kill in that time, and was a Selke Trophy finalist in 2023.
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32 NHL clubs could benefit from adding Marner to their roster, and with the salary cap ceiling set to increase from $88 million in 2024-25 to $95.5 million in 2025-26, most of those clubs will have the cap space or flexibility to make room in their budget to sign him.
If Marner hits unrestricted free agency on July 1, nearly every NHL team will be calling agent Darren Ferris, inquiring about the cost to add. It could be a bidding war to the likes we haven’t seen in the NHL in several years, the last comparable unrestricted free agents being Johnny Gaudreau in 2022, Artemi Panarin in 2019, and John Tavares in 2018.
Every discussion on potential landing spots for Marner, should he hit free agency, seems to mention the Anaheim Ducks as a destination he could consider. He would be a franchise-altering acquisition for Anaheim and catapult them into relevancy after failing to qualify for the playoffs over the previous seven seasons.
Here’s what Anaheim could pitch to Marner, should the scenario arise:
Core
The Ducks have one of the deepest and most potent U24 pipelines in the NHL and deploy a nightly lineup where eight of those U24 players are already assuming impact roles at every position on the ice.
Marner could join a forward core that includes four somewhat recent top-ten draft picks: Leo Carlsson (2nd overall in 2023), Mason McTavish (3rd in ’21), Cutter Gauthier (5th in ’22), and Trevor Zegras (9th in ’19). All four players have, at least, eclipsed the 20-goal and 40-point plateaus in their early careers.
On their blueline, the Ducks ice 2024-25 breakout star Jackson LaCombe as well as a pair of 2023 Defenseman of the Year award-winners in their respective CHL leagues: Olen Zellweger and Pavel Mintyukov.
In net for the foreseeable future in Anaheim stands 24-year-old Czech goaltender Lukas Dostal, who has a career .902 SV% (league average) and has saved 7.3 goals above expected in his 121 career NHL games.
Money
The Ducks are projected to enter the 2025 offseason with the third-most available cap space ($38.69 million), just behind the Columbus Blue Jackets ($40.41 million) and San Jose Sharks ($40.99 million).
Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek is reportedly nearing the end of his contract with the organization and has been given the green light by ownership to spend “what it takes” to fulfill the mandate of returning to the playoffs in 2026.
“We’re willing to make that investment into the team,” Ducks owner Henry Samueli said. “We’ve told the same thing to Pat. Going out looking for players, you will have the budget you need to make this a serious playoff team. You don’t have to pinch pennies anymore. Do what it takes to make us a contender.”
The Ducks have the capability to match or exceed any offer that comes Marner’s way in free agency and are even willing to spend to the salary cap ceiling.
“Potentially, if necessary,” Samueli continued. “He (Verbeek) is going to spend wisely. We’re not going to write stupid checks, but I told him, ‘Do what it takes to make this a really steady, perennial playoff contender and Stanley Cup contender down the road. And if that means signing big-name free agents, go for it.’ We told him, going forward, you will not be constrained by the budget.”
Market
From the outside looking in, Toronto has substantial positives that come with playing for the league’s most popular team, in front of (arguably) the most passionate fans, and in the globe’s epicenter of hockey.
That fishbowl effect can have its drawbacks as well, as the temperature and discussion around Marner have swung heavily in both directions throughout his time as a Leaf.
In terms of climate, both actual and in hockey terms, Anaheim is as close to a polar opposite of Toronto as it gets in the NHL. On average, there are no more than three reporters (not under team employ) at each Ducks’ practice and morning skate, a stark contrast from the crowded daily media scrums in the Leafs’ locker room.
Orange County offers a lifestyle where, if desired, a player can “turn their brain off,” leave hockey at the rink to soak up needed family time, and decompress with some of the best weather on the planet, potentially at or near some of the world’s best beaches.
Ducks fans are passionate, and the media is talented, but the sheer volume of both is much less overwhelming than in the largest markets. Hockey, while ever-expanding, is much lower on the totem pole of everyday conversation, and if day-to-day anonymity is craved, it can be achieved as an NHL player in Southern California.
Coach
The Ducks hired Joel Quenneville as their new head coach on May 8 after a three and a half year period away from the game. He brings with him a substantial amount of baggage and the second-winningest coaching record in NHL history, including three Stanley Cups.
Quenneville is the epitome of a “player’s coach,” who ushered in the current era of speed and possession-based hockey utilized by all 32 NHL teams today. Players’ accounts of their time with him as their coach are overwhelmingly positive.
Ducks forward Frank Vatrano played for Quenneville as a member of the Florida Panthers during Quenneville’s time there (2019-2022).
“His aura when he's in the room, the energy. He wants you to have fun,” Ducks forward Frank Vatrano said when asked what Quenneville brings as a coach. “When you're having fun, it's more fun for everyone. On a day-to-day basis, he makes it really fun to come to the rink every day.
“You can be having a tough stretch as a team or individual, going through individual struggles. He knows how to lift you up and lift the team up at the right times. That’s what all players ask for as a coach is to obviously hold us accountable to the standards, and we go by that every single day, but he just knows how to do that at another level.”
Judging how he nurtured, valued, and accentuated players with unmatched skill like Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin, and Jonathan Huberdeau on their rises to stardom in the NHL, one would be hard-pressed to find a more perfect player-coach fit than Marner-Quenneville.
Window
The Anaheim Ducks made a significant jump in the NHL standings from 2023-24 to 2024-25, improving from a 59-point team to an 80-point team.
While a deeper dive into traditional and underlying numbers suggests that a sizable portion of that success can be attributed to goaltending, the team, as a whole, displayed a level of attention to detail and work ethic absent from Anaheim in several previous seasons.
“Players, they want to have success,” Quenneville said when he was hired. “They want to improve, they want accountability, (and) they want to see progress. I think they felt that over the course of the last few years that it’s there and that next challenge, or next step, is near.
“I think that everybody wants a push. The leadership, everybody can start taking a little more ownership in that collectively, across the board. It adds up, and I think that there’s big steps that can happen quickly.”
The mentioned young core will, in all likelihood, continue to improve, and in the environment the Ducks are building, they can fully realize their extraordinary potential en route to the ultimate goal of sustained success and competing for Stanley Cups.
The Ducks' contention window feels as inevitable as any and closer than others with similar potency.
The probability of Mitch Marner ever playing for the Anaheim Ducks remains slim, but if they were to pursue him, the Ducks have as good a pitch as any team in the NHL.
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