Will the Carolina Hurricanes Actually Spend Big on Mitch Marner?

As the Stanley Cup Final starts to wind down, the silly season starts to ramp up. Once again, Full Press Hockey will list its top 10 Free Agents for the 2025 offseason. The top player not only on our board but everywhere is Mitch Marner.

Marner will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1, and it is believed he has played his last game as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Toronto attempted to trade him at the trade deadline and even at the draft last year, but he blocked multiple trades, including ones to the Carolina Hurricanes and the Vegas Golden Knights, as he would not waive his no-movement clause.

With that news spreading rapidly through multiple reports and insider sources, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger, some teams are willing to pay Marner an average annual value (AAV) of $14 million. One of the teams that could potentially do that is the Hurricanes, according to Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period. 

And while all indications suggest that Hurricanes owner Tom Dundin is heavily involved with the team, alongside GM Eric Tulsky, when it comes to writing the big check, he does not want to do it. Just look at how things went down with Sebastian Aho. The Montreal Canadiens did the Hurricanes a favor when they gave him an offer sheet at five years, $42 million with an $8.4 million AAV. That was quickly matched.

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In 2023, Aho signed an eight-year contract extension that carries a $9.75 million salary, making him the highest-paid player on the team. In the subsequent years, the Hurricanes did not want to pay Dougie Hamilton more than $9 million to stay. The two-year bridge deal for Martin Necas, which carried an annual average value (AAV) of $6.5 million, was a contentious issue.

After trading for Jake Guentzel in 2024, he wasn’t signing, so his rights were traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he subsequently signed an eight-year deal. Then there was the Mikko Rantanen disaster.

Tulsky feels different as a general manager. He took a big gamble when he sent out Necas to acquire Rantanen. However, Rantanen was never going to sign with the Hurricanes. Whether it was a perception of playing in Carolina or not wanting to get dealt, Rantanen wasn’t staying in Carolina. That was a big mistake by Tulsky not getting a contract extension with the trade.

And even when Rantanen was on the team, there were reports they were looking to pay him $13-$14 million a season. While reports may claim one thing, history tells a different story. The Hurricanes are just not that aggressive in free agency. While they did sign Dmitry Orlov, it was only a two-year deal at $7.75 million a season.

However, paying someone more than Aho might not be in Dundin’s cards. The Hurricanes have been a very conservative team. It was only up until last year when they took a big swing at the trade deadline. So, does anyone think the Hurricanes will pay up for Mitch Marner?

As Dennis Bernstein of the Fourth Period told Full Press Hockey, when asked about that topic, he said there will be hesitation on the owners’ part to finalize a deal of that length and dollar amount for a player like Mitch Marner.

Well, it’s a lot of money, right? He’s never paid any player that much money. You’re talking about $13, $14 million, talking about a $90 million commitment, right? Because you can only, as a free agent coming from another team, give them seven years.So, you’re going to have to go to $13.5 million, $ 14 million. I think that there’s some hesitancy on Dundin’s behalf. Because when they traded for Rantanen, I’m sure he got reassurances from Hockey Operations that they could sign him. Why would you trade for him if you couldn’t re-sign him? And they couldn’t end up signing him. So I think there’s going to be hesitation, because it isn’t a big market, and that’s a lot of money to pay a player, and it’s a lot more than you’re paying any other player on the team. So could they use him offensively? Absolutely, they could. The question is, would he be willing to write that big of a ticket to get him Carolina? I’m not sure. – Dennis Berstein of the Fourth Period , Full Press Hockey Transcription.

So, it will be interesting to see what the number will be for a player like Mitch Marner if the Carolina Hurricanes are indeed an option. However, the Hurricanes are not a team that spends big at free agency. It would be shocking if they went over $14 million to acquire a player who may or may not fit into their head coach’s system. Not to mention that player is committing his prime years to living in Carolina.

One thing is for sure: the Carolina Hurricanes are looking to change their mix up after falling short once again in the Eastern Conference Final. Whether it is Mitch Marner is still to be determined.