Insider: Maple Leafs ‘Have Not Decided’ if They Will Trade $65 Million Winger

“The Leafs are not leaning on Mitch Marner right now. They have not decided 100 percent they have to trade him, and they are going to make life uncomfortable, and they’re getting the list of names. None of that’s what’s going on,” Johnston said on The Chris Johnston Show.

According to Johnston, the plan for the Maple Leafs is to see what the market for Marner is before approaching him on moving his no-movement clause.

“I think there’s some frustration just about all the public discourse about it. That’s the nature of the beast when you’re that player, snd when the possibilities are on the table that we’re talking about. But at this point in time, I don’t think the Leafs have a deal for them, and I don’t think they’ve gone to them and asked them for a list or anything like that,” Johnston said.

“It does not make any sense for the Leafs to go to war with this player, to make this any more public than it already is, they are quietly behind the scenes see and gauge if there is a trade market and if there is, they will take it to the next step and see if Mitch Marner is willing to consider that move,” Johnston added.

Marner recorded 26 goals and 59 assists for 85 points in 69 regular season games last year. In the playoffs, he added 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points in seven playoff games.

Marner Could be a Maple Leaf Next Season

Despite Marner being the subject of plenty of trade rumors, Johnston isn’t ruling out the skilled winger being on the Maple Leafs roster next season.

“I wouldn’t be that surprised,” Johnston said. “It seems as though he’s comfortable playing out his free-agent year. The only reason that I think it would have to happen is he was in a spot where he needed an extension this summer, where he didn’t feel comfortable going into that final season…

“The fact that Mitch Marner is willing to play this right out until next summer and potentially chase free agency then. I think it’s very possible that he remains a member of the Maple Leafs. It’s way too soon to declare that’s going to happen, I’m certainly not doing so,” Johnston added.

Johnston believes if the Maple Leafs do decide to trade Marner, the team needs to make sure it is a spot that Marner wants to go to, but also is a trade that makes Toronto a Stanley Cup contender next season.

Marner Linked to Vegas

If the Maple Leafs do decide to trade Marner, the Vegas Golden Knights could be a potential landing spot.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman was on The Leaf’s Nation podcast and mentioned a potential trade package involving goalie Logan Thompson from the Golden Knights.

“I had people who said to me, for example, one of the things with Marner is that a lot of people suspect that Vegas will be around him because Vegas is smart—they’re around any good player. So I got people hypothesizing Shea Theodore and Logan Thompson deals to me,” Friedman stated.

Marner has also been linked to the Nashville Predators in a package around goalie Juuse Saros.