The Toronto Maple Leafs are going to be in limbo, to an extent, until they figure out what’s happening with Mitch Marner. Regardless of your thoughts on the Maple Leafs’ star winger, there’s no question that general manager Brad Treliving is going to remain in negotiations with him until he makes a decision, but the feeling is that he’ll test free agency, and if so, there will undoubtedly be teams willing to pay him more than the Maple Leafs can, or should.
One team that’s been mentioned as a potential fit for Marner is the newly-branded Utah Mammoth. It may not be Marner’s first choice in terms of location and seasonal aspirations, but they’re a team on the cusp of taking the next step, and they will undoubtedly have the money to offer him a lucrative deal if they decide to push for him. Whether or not there’s a world where Marner is with the NHL’s newest franchise next season, we won’t know for a couple of weeks, but the Leafs should be looking at taking a piece back from the Mammoth, and that piece is Jack McBain.
McBain is a 25-year-old centre who just wrapped up his third full NHL season. He was originally drafted by the Minnesota Wild as a third-rounder in 2018, but out of concern that he wasn’t going to be able to crack the Wild’s roster, he prompted them to explore a trade. His rights ended up being traded to the Arizona Coyotes, where he played out his two-year entry-level contract and inked a two-year contract extension prior to the 2023-24 season.
On a recent edition of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman mentioned that McBain could potentially be an offer sheet target for other teams, similar to what we saw the St. Louis Blues do with Phillip Broberg and Dylan Holloway last season.
“I don’t know if it will happen, but Utah has Jack McBain, and McBain’s a centre and a bigger guy. He’s 25 years old, 6-foot-4 centre. Teams are always looking for those kinds of players, big centres are hard to find. I think the Mammoth really like him, and I think they’re trying to sign him, but that’s a name that people were telling me, when we were talking about offer sheets, who could get one.” -Elliotte Friedman
Although he was a goal-scorer at the NCAA level, with 19 goals and 33 points in 24 games in his senior year with Boston College, he’s seemingly embraced the role of a bottom-six player in the NHL. Standing at 6-foot-4 and 219 pounds, he’s incorporated physicality as a crucial part of his game, finishing sixth in the NHL in hits with 291 in 2024-25. He also had eight fighting majors, so you know the physicality comes with attitude and is more than just finishing his checks.
What makes McBain particularly interesting as an offer sheet target is the belief that he’s got more to give from an offensive standpoint. He set career highs in goals (13) and points (27) in 2024-25, and while those numbers are what you’d expect from a low-end third-line centre or a high-end fourth-line centre, he’s still only 25 years old. With the right linemates and the right situation, he could develop that offensive game and potentially make himself a dual-threat type of player in those situations.
The Leafs would also be getting a responsible defensive player in this situation. McBain notched the third-highest ice-time per game on the penalty kill of all Utah forwards, behind Kevin Stenlund and former Maple Leaf Alex Kerfoot. At this stage of his career, he’s certainly more of a ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ type of player, but again, at only 25 years old, there’s no reason to believe that a 27-point player is who he is. After all, his goal-scoring ability in his last few NCAA seasons are why there was interest in him when he became a free agent as a Wild prospect, and getting the chance to join a team with Cup aspirations and some holes in their centre depth seems like it could be a match made in heaven.
It’s incredibly likely that the Mammoth are willing to give him the raise he’s looking for on his next contract. His cap hit last season was just north of $1.5 million, and if he were to ask for a raise that would put him in the ballpark of $2 million to $4 million, the compensation would require a second round pick. The Maple Leafs don’t have a second round pick in 2026 at the moment, but this isn’t an immediate concern. Teams are routinely looking for ways to add to their draft capital, and the Leafs have had no problem adding draft picks they’ve previously traded in the past.
There’s also the possibility of working out a trade for McBain’s rights, but that might be a tougher sell to the Mammoth if they’re looking to re-sign him. If the Leafs really wanted to push the limits, they could stretch into the echelon of $4.6m to $7m annually, at which point the Mammoth might not feel comfortable committing that kind of money. The downside to this is that it would cost the Leafs a first-round pick next season, which they also don’t have, but again – there are ways around this, and not having a draft pick wouldn’t stop the Leafs if they really wanted him.
By the end of this article it may seem like there’s not much of a path for the Leafs to acquire McBain in some way shape or form, but they’re going to need to get creative to address their centre issue this season. Players like Sam Bennett, Matt Duchene, and Mikael Granlund are candidates for a 2C/3C hybrid, but the 2025 free agent class isn’t quite strong enough to rely on it to fix the issue. At that point, you risk getting into a bidding war and potentially overpaying somebody, so it’s important that they consider all options, and even though McBain wouldn’t be a huge name, a Toronto-born tough centre with sneaky offensive upside would be a win for the team.
