Report: Hurricanes expected to pursue Marner if he hits free agency

The Carolina Hurricanes are expected to court Mitch Marner if the Toronto Maple Leafs winger hits free agency this summer, TSN's Pierre LeBrun reports.

The Maple Leafs reportedly approached Marner about waiving his no-movement clause to join the Carolina Hurricanes in a deadline deal that would've brought Mikko Rantanen to the Maple Leafs. Marner declined to move, reiterating that he wants to stay in Toronto. However, his camp has been unwilling to negotiate a contract extension in-season despite the Maple Leafs' wishes to do so in recent months.

Rantanen was ultimately traded to the Dallas Stars where he signed an eight-year, $96-million extension. Logan Stankoven and draft picks were sent the other way.

Carolina will have ample cap flexibility this summer in part because Stankoven is still on his entry-level contract through next season. The Hurricanes project to have $36 million to work with, though Taylor Hall, Brent Burns, Dmitry Orlov, and Frederik Andersen are among the club's biggest pending unrestricted free agents.

That cap space could allow Carolina to go big-game hunting this summer, and Marner headlines a list of pending UFAs that also includes Sam Bennett, Nikolaj Ehlers, Brad Marchand, Matt Duchene, Jakob Chychrun, Brock Boeser, Neal Pionk, Aaron Ekblad, and fellow Maple Leaf John Tavares.

Marner, 27, has a team-leading 80 points in 65 games for Toronto this season. He's averaged 104 points per 82 games since the start of 2021-22, though he's never hit the century mark in a full season. Marner has also received down-ballot Selke Trophy votes for his strong defensive game, finishing as high as third in 2022-23.

The Maple Leafs drafted the Thornhill, Ontario, native fourth overall in 2015. He ranks fourth in franchise history in assists (504) and fifth in points (719) through 641 career games.