Maple Leafs’ Forward ‘Heading Into Trade Territory’: Report

The rumors of a potential trade of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner will never go away but we might be entering a new chapter as we approach mid July.

According to Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun, in a report published on July 12, rumors at the NHL draft spoke about a Marner trade being completed by the second week of July. That hasn’t happened, but we’re definitely “heading into that territory,” wrote Koshan.

“The word coming out of the NHL draft at the end of June in Las Vegas was that if—a big if—Mitch Marner was going to be traded, it would take some time to consummate and probably wouldn’t happen for a couple of weeks,” Koshan wrote. “We’re heading into that territory on the calendar now, but there has been nothing to lead anyone to believe that a Marner trade actually will happen.

“The line from Marner’s camp all along is that the star winger will be in camp in September with the Leafs as he heads into the final year of his contract. As we say, there has been nothing concrete to expect anything otherwise. Still, there’s no doubt that the Marner issue remains delicate.”

Marner scored 26 goals and 59 assists in only 69 regular-season games in the 2023-24 season. However, the pressing issue regarding Marner is his expiring contract.

The superstar winger is entering the final season of his six-year, $65.4 million contract, one he signed in 2019 and that former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has dubbed his “biggest mistake.” Marner’s contract includes a full no-move clause, which allows the player to block any trade if he doesn’t like the destination.

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Mitch Marner Made Clear He Wants to Stay in Toronto

It’s reasonable for the Maple Leafs to at least explore the possibility of trading Marner now instead of losing him for nothing in July 2025.

The Leafs’ organization has been relatively quiet since the end of the season regarding Marner and how the franchise will handle his situation. Current Leafs general manager Brad Treliving, however, said before the start of the 2023-24 season that Auston Matthews and William Nylander, not Mitch Marner, were the franchise’s priorities.

“A year ago, Leafs general manager Brad Treliving made it clear that re-signing Auston Matthews and William Nylander to an extension occupied the top of his to-do list,” Koshan reported. “And those signings happened, as Matthews was extended for four years in August and Nylander for eight years in January.

“As far as Treliving has been willing to go in discussing Marner with the media is to remind everyone that he thinks Marner is a great player and ‘we’re lucky to have him.’ Little has been said, at least publicly, about extending Marner beyond 2024-25.”

As for Marner, he said publicly during the end-of-season availability that he wanted to sign a long-term deal with the Maple Leafs.

“That’d be a goal. I’ve expressed my love for this place, this city. Obviously, I’ve grown up here. We’ll start thinking about that now and trying to figure something out… It means the world to me,” Marner told the media on May 6.

It takes two to tango, however, so getting an extension is not under Marner’s control and he must wait for Toronto to offer it to him.

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Marner Vetoes Questions About Maple Leafs’ Future

Marner hosted the “Marner Assist Foundation” gathering on July 12 but made headlines for the wrong reason: banning reporters from asking him about his future in or outside Toronto.

The star allowed a few media members and outlets to come up with questions in interviews. According to  David Alter of The Hockey News, however, Marner didn’t allow questions about the Maple Leafs or his future.

“Mitch Marner is doing media rounds for his Marner Assist Foundation today, a great charity now in its 6th year. This year, though, has been quite different as far as interviews go. No #Leafs questions permitted,” Alter wrote on X.

To be fair, Marner’s future is still very much up in the air. There have been rumors about a trade, but Marner is still under contract for another season and he could simply stay put and walk as an unrestricted free agent in July 2025.

That is what NHL insider Chris Johnston believes will happen, as he envisions Marner walking as a free agent.

“It’s probably slightly more likely he walks than signs an extension but not significantly so. If we were setting the betting lines now the favorite would be (he) walks as a free agent. Then I would say re-sign the next favorite, and then trade three,” Johnston said on the SDPN podcast on July 8.

“I’m not sure they are going to give him the option to stay either. It’s a two-way street.”

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