Metropolitan Team Enters the Mitch Marner Sweepstakes with an Infinite Amount of Money to Spend

Mitch Marner is going to be a popular man in about 20 days from now when he is officially allowed to become a free agent. It is expected he will explore free agency, and based on speculation, the forward is as good as gone.

However, the problem with choices is that sometimes, you can have too many of them. That might just be Marner's reality come July 1st, as the Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, Las Vegas Golden Knights, and Chicago Blackhawks are all expected to make some kind of offer.

You can now add one more hat into that ring, as a report from The Athletic suggests a Metropolitan Division team is looking to make a big play for the forward.

That team is the Columbus Blue Jackets. Following the Johnny Gaudreau tragedy, they found themselves under the salary cap floor, before eventually getting relief from the league.

However, going into this offseason, they have $40 million worth of cap space, which means they can get absolutely silly with their offers.

There are teams preparing to offer Mitch Marner a salary of $15 million per season, and the Blue Jackets are absolutely capable of making something like that happen.

They're also a franchise that tried to pry Marner from the Maple Leafs six years ago with an offer sheet. Needless to say, they've always liked the superstar winger.

The Blue Jackets came close to making the playoffs last year, so adding Marner would certainly make them a lot better and take them closer to where they need to be.

Whether or not Marner wants to go to Columbus remains to be seen. Of all of the destinations in the NHL, they may just be the least desirable.

Even coming back to the Leafs would be a better option for Marner at that point.