One Team Ready to Make Maple Leafs UFA Mitch Marner NHL's Highest Paid Player

The Anaheim Ducks could make Mitch Marner the highest-paid player in hockey

The buzz going around the NHL Draft Combine last week has provided a whole new slew of rumors as we head down the stretch to the Draft and the Free Agent Frenzy over the next few weeks. Naturally, Toronto Maple Leafs pending UFA Mitch Marner was a hot topic of discussion, and James Mirtle of The Athletic is reporting that he could be the NHL's highest-paid player in 2025-26 if the Anaheim Ducks get their way.

Some of the chatter is that they’ll potentially be the high bidder for Mitch Marner, with an unheard-of average annual value north of the $14 million that the Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl currently makes as the NHL’s highest-paid player.

Could the Anaheim Ducks make Mitch Marner the NHL's highest-paid player?

The Ducks have loads of cap space this summer, almost $39 million, and they're looking to supercharge their rebuild after the addition of veteran head coach Joel Quenneville. The 66-year-old former three-time Stanley Cup-winning coach, and second-winningest coach in NHL history, didn't sign on to be tied to a team floundering in a rebuild.

Anaheim finished this past season a full 16 points out of a Wild Card spot, after going 35-37-10, sixth in the Pacific Division. They missed the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season. However, their 80 points was a huge 21-point improvement from 2023-24, and with an exciting young core that includes forwards Leo Carlsson, 20, Cutter Gauthier, 21, Mason McTavish, 22, and defensemen Olen Zellweger, 21; Pavel Mintyukov, 21, and Jackson LaCombe, 24, adding a proven superstar veteran like Marner is exactly what this team needs to get to the next level.

Marner finished the season with his first 100-point campaign, with 27 goals and 75 assists for 102 points, and has recorded no less than 1.22 points per game in each of the last five seasons.