The Toronto Maple Leafs lost yet another Game 7 on Sunday night, likely marking the final game that winger Mitch Marner will play for the franchise. He just played out the final year of his six-year, $65.4 million contract and is expected to be one of the top free agents available this offseason.
Marner has been a great regular-season player in his career with 741 points (221 goals, 520 assists) in 657 games. He's coming off a career-best 102 points and will be looking for a big payday this summer.
However, some teams may balk at Marner's asking price due to his lackluster performances in the playoffs, particularly in elimination games. He has 63 points in 70 career playoff games but only 13 goals. His struggles in big games in the postseason are well documented.
Nevertheless, Marner is a player that most teams would love to have. He is a playmaker, kills penalties, and is responsible (enough) defensively.
CapWages projects Marner to receive a cap hit just shy of $13 million for the maximum seven years.
So could the St. Louis Blues land Marner this offseason?
Well, it's complicated -- in short: probably not.
The Blues currently only have $8.9 million in cap space, and they don't have much money coming off the books this offseason.
Even if the Blues don't bring back Radek Faksa, his $3.25 million cap hit is accounted for. Pavel Buchnevich's $2.2 million pay increase goes into effect next season, as does Jake Neighbours' two-year deal with a cap hit of $3.75M -- up from $835k this year.
Add in Joel Hofer needing a new contract after a stellar season, and the Blues' cap space is dwindling pretty quickly. On top of that, St. Louis' depth on the wings is looking pretty solid with younger players stepping into bigger roles.
Sure, if Marner wants to come to St. Louis for some reason, the Blues would have to entertain the thought, but it would require trading out a contract or two.