The real reason Toronto refused to sign Mario Ferraro has been exposed
Photo credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images
Mario Ferraro landed in Winnipeg on a bargain deal, and the reason traces straight back to a name in Toronto: Morgan Rielly.
The reporting from David Pagnotta is clear. Ferraro wanted the Maple Leafs, but Toronto's message was that Rielly's $7.5 million had to move before any offer could come.
Ferraro refused to wait. On July 1 he signed a three-year, $12 million deal with the Jets carrying a $4 million cap hit.
Re Mario Ferraro: "Teams like Toronto; Carolina, and Edmonton and a few others that had interest; the message...from Toronto...was we're still figuring out Morgan Rielly; he didn't wanna wait, he ends up in Winnipeg."
- David Pagnotta
- David Pagnotta
The money wasn't the gap.
Pagnotta pegged Toronto's likely offer in the same three-to-four-year, $4-to-5 million range Winnipeg ultimately paid.
What Winnipeg quietly bought
This wasn't a depth flier. Ferraro logged 277 shorthanded minutes last season, third in the entire NHL, and his 3:23 of shorthanded time per game ranked fourth among all skaters.
He led San Jose in blocked shots with 150 while averaging 21:02 a night on a team that lived in its own zone. The Jets even handed him an eight-team no-trade clause, a signal they view him as a fixture, not a rental.
The cost of Toronto's paralysis
Rielly's immovable contract didn't just cost the Leafs a defenseman, it actively subsidized a Western contender.
Ferraro slots behind Josh Morrissey and Dylan Samberg, in front of Connor Hellebuyck, on a Jets club that needed exactly this profile. Toronto's inability to resolve one cap decision handed Winnipeg an elite penalty-kill piece at a discount.
That is the real story. When a team freezes, the market doesn't wait, and someone else cashes the check.
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