Mitch Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights continue to be paired together, and once again, Insider Elliotte Friedman had a lot to say when connecting the player and the organization. 

On Friedman's podcast, 32 Thoughts, the insider once again reiterated that, based on everything he is hearing, the Golden Knights are leading the race and are considered the front-runners, alongside the Carolina Hurricanes. 

“I think there's a lot of people just wondering about, is Vegas the team to beat here? “If you ask most people about Marner and where they think, you know, a lot of people are kind of like, they think, rightly or wrongly, they think that Vegas is the team to beat.”

As it stands, the 28-year-old is still with his hometown team and the team that drafted him fourth overall in the 2015 NHL Draft, but come July. 1, Marner will be free to sign elsewhere. Throughout his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Marner has been praised and cherished as a hometown hero, but he has also been ridiculed and criticized for his playoff performances and the perception that he drained the Maple Leafs for every dollar in his first contract.

Following his entry-level contract, Marner signed a six-year, $10.93-million AAV, making him the third-highest-paid player on the team and resetting the market. In the regular season, Marner was worth every cent, but in the playoffs, the Markham, ON native struggled to live up to his cap hit. In 70 career postseason games, Marner has scored 13 goals and 63 points, but in games 5-7, Marner has zero goals and just seven assists in 20 games. 

If Marner signs with the Golden Knights, he would instantly become their highest-paid player, although Jack Eichel could surpass him on his next deal. Some reports have stated that Marner may take his time with the process and doesn't feel pressured to sign on July 1st, which would build up the suspense and could cause a stressful offseason for the Golden Knights front office. 

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