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Don Cherry Issues Mitch Marner Warning to Maple Leafs

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Antonio Losada | Last updated Feb 18, 2025 5:50 AM ET

With the March 7 trade deadline approaching and Mitch Marner's contract ending in July, speculation around his future in Toronto keeps growing.

Former NHL player and current analyst Don Cherry gave Toronto a piece of advice during Monday's episode of "The Don Cherry Grapevine" podcast, making clear his opinion on how the Maple Leafs should handle Marner's future.

Cherry believes Toronto should be cautious with Marner’s next contract, arguing that the forward’s playoff struggles and inconsistent performances shouldn’t warrant a massive long-term deal.

"If Marner doesn’t do anything in the playoffs this year, let’s say they go to the second round, and he doesn’t do very well, should the Leafs sign him for big, though?" Cherry’s son, Tim, asked.

"I would not," Cherry said. "I would be careful to sign him for a big deal if Marner goes for over $14 million. (As the cap goes up) the room might be there."

Marner, currently in the final year of a six-year, $65.41 million contract, has been projected to sign a contract between $12.5 million and $16 million annually with the salary cap set to rise.

At the time of signing his current deal, Marner's average annual value of $10.9 million accounted for 13.37 percent of Toronto’s cap space, trailing only Auston Matthews and William Nylander.

Even if Marner only asks for a similar percentage of the cap expected for the 2024-25 season ($95.5 million), he'd overtake Nylander ($11.5 million AAV) in the Maple Leafs salary table with an AAV of $12.75 million, only trailing Matthews' $13.25 million per season.

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Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported on Feb. 10 that Marner remains undecided about his future and isn’t close to making a final decision on what's next for him.

"Unless there’s something going on that I’m not seeing right now, which is always possible, I don’t sense Mitch Marner is anywhere close to making a decision," Friedman said.

Although some teams, including the Carolina Hurricanes, have inquired about him, Marner has a full no-move clause and has shown no interest in waiving it.

"If (waiving his no-move clause) wasn’t going to be happening last summer, I don’t think it’s going to be happening now," Friedman said.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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