Insider Suspects 2 Pacific Division Teams Marner Could Sign With

Mitch Marner's camp may have cut off any contract discussions with the Toronto Maple Leafs. According to Elliotte Friedman on 32 Thoughts, the Maple Leafs have tried discussing a new contract, but Marner's camp is not engaging. The insider also noted that Marner's teammates suspect he intends to sign out west. The two teams to watch there are the Vegas Golden Knights and LA Kings.

Vegas' weakness is their forward group and could absolutely use a top-6 forward addition, even at the price Marner is probably going to get. If need be, William Karlsson and Nic Hague will be moved out to make cap room. The team currently has just under $10 million in projected cap space and a number of cheap contracts at forward that ended. Marner would be a huge addition for the Golden Knights and absolutely keep them as contenders for years to come.

The Kings appear to be big game hunting. The team definitely feels that they have to do something more drastic to finally get by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs or even just go on a deep run while Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty are still around. The team is going to avoid rebuilding, but don't have that much to build off of internally. They have to make additions externally and Marner could solidify their top-6 for a long time.

Marner would easily be the leading scorer on the Kings and fill one of the holes up front that needs to be addressed. A top-6 that also includes Adrian Kempe, Quinton Byfield, Kevin Fiala, and Alex Laferriere/Alex Turcotte with Marner would be a strong one.

There should be more teams on Marner's radar and wanting to pitch for Marner to come play for them. If he doesn't return to Toronto, which it doesn't seem like he will at this point, free agency will be a whole lot more interesting and there will be a major shakeup, potentially in the Pacific Division.