NHL insider makes thoughts extremely clear while picking between Mitch Marner & potential $55,500,000 UFA

NHL insider Darren Dreger picked Mitch Marner over Mikko Rantanen as a better fit for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Speaking during “The Quiz” segment during the “Leafs on TSN” show, the analyst disclosed that the franchise’s first choice was Marner.

"It's Mitch Marner,” Dreger said. (0:40) “We know that he's a huge part of the core of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I can appreciate the playoff critics and all of that he has to engage. Toronto wants to extend him long term, but that's up to Mitch Marner to just dismiss this whole possibility."

Marner and Rantanen’s contracts expire at the end of the season, potentially leaving them as unrestricted free agents. In July, Marner said he would not discuss his contract negotiations with the media, and his agent has kept them confidential so far. The Leafs front office has not released any concrete details either.

“Those are things that we always are looking at and talking about and rumbling around, but nothing to report right now,” Maple Leafs General Manager Brad Treliving said, via The Athletic.

Analysts have speculated that the Leafs might wait to see Marner’s performance in the playoffs before offering him a new deal.

Traded to the Carolina Hurricanes after contract extension negotiations with the Colorado Avalanche reportedly stalled, Rantanen is in the last few months of a six-year, $55.5 million contract. It was reported that the Avalanche were unwilling to meet his ask for a new contract and opted to trade him early rather than let his contract run out in the summer.

Speculation about Mitch Marner mounts after Rantanen trade

Rantanen’s shock trade has hockey analysts and fans constantly speculating about Marner’s similar situation. On Thursday, speaking on Sportsnet, insider Luke Gazdic said:

"I think Mitch is going to be a Leaf for a long time. I think the team is going to figure it out on their end."He is too good to let a player like that go, especially a local guy, local player and product that wants to be here.”

However, former NHL player Paul Bissonnette begged to differ. On the "Spittin Chiclets" podcast on Jan. 28, he said that Marner’s weak playoff performances in the past might work against him.

“Let’s say playoffs didn't go that positive for the Toronto Maple Leafs," Bissonnette said. "And maybe you get this a similar type performance out of Marner that you saw last year where we can get into the age old argument, like he wasn't a liability, per se, but he definitely wasn't regular-season Mitch.

And, you know, so if they were to move on from Mitch Marner and not re-sign him, I would definitely go after Rantanen.”

Mitch Marner is in the final year of a six-year, $65.4 million contract.