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Mitch Marner headlines the NHL's free agents to watch, if he makes it to market

Mitch Marner is set to join Leon Draisaitl, Auston Matthews, Nathan MacKinnon and Connor McDavid as one of the highest-paid players in the NHL, even if he does not get to unrestricted free agency.

Beyond Marner, this is not one of the deepest free agent classes in recent history. Still, with the salary cap going up a record $7.5 million to $95.5 million, teams are going to be spending a lot of money beginning at noon EDT on Tuesday.

Here's a look at the players to watch when the market opens:

Mitch Marner

Buzz began building over the weekend that the Vegas Golden Knights were working on acquiring the 28-year-old winger's rights from Toronto and signing him before the rest of the league gets the chance to woo Marner. Clearing cap space by trading defenseman Nicolas Hague to Nashville further fueled that speculation.

Marner's 102 points last season are 36 more than the next-closest free agent, Mikael Granlund, who helped Dallas reach the Western Conference final after getting traded to the Stars from San Jose in February. Marner is not returning to the Maple Leafs, the team that drafted him fourth in 2015 and with whom he spent his first nine seasons.

If somehow the Knights and Leafs do not get to the finish line, Marner will have no shortage of suitors. A move to the West might fit, far from the pressure cooker of the so-called center of the hockey universe.

Brock Boeser

Six-time 20-goal scorers do not hit free agency before age 30 very often, and Boeser had 40 as recently as 2023-24. He is Marner's age and he had 25 goals and 25 assists this past season, so everyone from Winnipeg to Washington will be in on Boeser.

The Minnesota native has so far spent his whole career with Vancouver, and the Canucks seem to be sliding into a rebuild. That gives Boeser the opportunity to get a welcomed change of scenery, potentially with a playoff contender.

Brent Burns

One of the oldest players in the league at 40, Burns is still chasing the Stanley Cup and can bring experience and more to a contender. The 6-foot-5 nearly 230-pound defenseman no longer skates top-pairing minutes, but he averaged nearly 23 a game during Carolina's run to the East final.

Fellow soon-to-be former Hurricanes teammate Dmitry Orlov will also garner interest. Orlov had a rough series against Florida but is still capable and has a Stanley Cup ring from his time with the Capitals.

Aaron Ekblad or Brad Marchand

After locking up playoff MVP Sam Bennett for $64 million over eight years, the back-to-back champion Panthers probably have the cap space to re-sign either Marchand or Ekblad. If general manager Bill Zito figures out a way to keep both, he should get a statue outside the team's arena in Sunrise — and some room better get cleared to add more banners to the rafters.

Ekblad has been a part of Florida's core since he was the No. 1 pick in the draft in 2014. Marchand turned out to be the perfect fit after joining at the trade deadline.

Adding defenseman Seth Jones a week before getting Marchand not only primed the Panthers for the another title run but seemed to make him natural replacement for Ekblad. Their blue line is set for the better part of the next decade if Ekblad returns.

There's no such way to replace Marchand, and even at 37 he'll be sought after by just about every contender in the league if available.

Ilya Samsonov

The goaltending market is remarkably thin, with fewer than a dozen unrestricted free agents around who played in the league last season. Most are backups or, at best, 1B options, including Jake Allen and David Rittich.

Samsonov is the most intriguing option. He's only 28, has starting experience and the right goalie coach and locker room could be enough to get his career back on track following consecutive sub-.900 save percentage seasons, one with Toronto and most recently with Vegas.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

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