The Toronto Maple Leafs held off the defending Stanley Cup champions Florida Panthers to take Game One of their second-round playoff series at Scotiabank Arena on Monday, by a 5-4 score.
Meanwhile, the Winnipeg Jets — the team with the best record in the NHL at 116 points — are preparing to take on the Dallas Stars at Canada Life Centre on Wednesday, the first appearance by the Jets in the second round since 2021 and only their second ever, including the first 11 years of their existence as the Atlanta Thrashers.
How far each team will progress in this season’s quest for the Cup, of course, remains to be determined. But one thing seems, if not certain, than highly likely — that both the Leafs and Jets will look different next season. Both have star players whose contracts will expire after this season, and who will become unrestricted free agents.
Both players are looking at collecting significant pay hikes with their new contracts, whether from their current teams or new ones. Those players are 29-year-old, 2014 first-round draft pick Nikolaj Ehlers of Winnipeg, and 28-year-old Mitch Marner of Toronto, a 2015 first-round pick.
Marner, a 2016-2017 All-Rookie team selection and six-time All-Star, is finishing up his six-year, $65.4 million contract with the Leafs. Several teams are likely to be keen on acquiring Marner assuming he decides to test the open market.
The Maple Leafs have not attempted to open talks with Marner, but as ESPN hockey analyst John Buccigross said earlier this week, “Marner is the fascinating thing. I don’t see how you let him go. Whether you have to trade (William) Nylander, I just don’t see how you let that guy go.”
But another NHL pundit, Jesse Courville-Lynch of The Hockey Writers, disagrees. The scribe expects that Marner will hit free agency — and the Leafs should look to Jets winger Ehlers, whose seven-year, $42 million contract comes to an end after this season as well.
“The belief as of right now is that he will be testing the open market and seeing if he can maximize his value with another team, and the Maple Leafs should be all over him,” Courville-Lynch wrote on Tuesday.
“Ehlers is considered an elite offensive producer who plays well in the defensive zone, and while he doesn’t quite bring what Marner does at both ends of the ice, he could be a cheaper addition and could mesh well with their current scheme,” he continued.
Though Courville-Lynch predicts that Ehlers would come at a lower price tag, and cap hit, than Marner, he would not be exactly cheap. Calling him potentially “one of the most coveted free agents heading into the offseason,” the Hockey Writers analyst said that the native of Aalborg, Denmark, “is likely looking at a massive long-term contract. If I had to guess, I would predict Ehlers gets a seven-year contract worth around $8.25 million annually.”
Ehlers notched 24 goals plus 39 assists in 2024-2025, while appearing in 69 games.
If Courville-Lynch’s projection of Ehlers’ next contract is correct, he notes, the Leafs after signing him will still have $18 million remaining that could be used to re-sign another pending free agent, 34-year-old John Tavares, as well as other players.
Marner on the open market, according to Courville-Lynch is looking at hauling in a “massive pay raise,” likely putting him out of Toronto’s price range if they plan on keeping Tavares around.
Analyst Urges Maple Leafs to Sign $42 Million Winger as Mitch Marner Replacement