In less than two weeks, spanning from April 30 to May 9, the Toronto Maple Leafs came back from a 1-3 postseason deficit, navigated a bench beef, crashed out of the playoffs at the hands of the Boston Bruins, held end-of-season press conferences, and ultimately fired head coach Sheldon Keefe.
The next checkboxes the Leafs will need to tick are linked to the hiring of a new coach (with an ‘odds-on favorite’ candidate already identified) and to a potential extension or trade of superstar forward Mitch Marner.
Although the second item of the aforementioned two might sound hard to accomplish with Marner having a no-move clause in his current contract (which expires at the end of next season), former Leafs player and current NHL analyst Nick Kypreos made an interesting reveal that indicates otherwise in a column written for the Toronto Star on May 9.
“Here is the good news for Marner,” Kypreos wrote. “There are already multiple NHL teams that have reached out and shown a keen interest in a three-time all-star player who closes in on 100 points every season.”
Marner scored 85 points in 69 regular-season games this season but he’s coming off 97- and 99-point years in the prior two campaigns, in which he played 72 and 80 games respectively. He also broke the 90-point barrier in 2019 with 94 points appearing in all 82 games.
Will the Maple Leafs Be Able to Trade Mitch Marner?
If the Leafs want to complete a trade that sends Marner away from Toronto and opens cap space, however, they will need to accomplish two things: find a trade partner and convince Marner to waive his no-move clause to facilitate such a move.
That might prove to be difficult for the Canadian franchise considering Marner’s comments during his end-of-season availability held on May 6.
Leafs F Mitch Marner explains that the goal is to be with Toronto long term, and what it means to be a Maple Leaf.
“That would be the goal,” Marner told reporters on May 6 when asked if he wants to sign a long-term extension with the Leafs. “I’ve expressed my love for this place, this city. Obviously, I grew up here.”
Kypreos mentioned Marner’s top-dollar salary of around $11 million as a reason for the Leafs to move on from the forward and try to retool the team ahead of next season.
“The writing is on the wall,” Kypreos wrote. “Their (Marner and John Tavares‘) chapters as local Leafs players will soon come to an end.”
If Kypreos’ statements and information are correct, then both parties (the Leafs and Marner) would have the green light to pursue a trade with the team having trading partners already calling them and the latter having suitors that might entice him enough to waive his NMC this summer.
Maple Leafs Holding Final End-Of-Season Availability On May 10
After organizing a final players and head coach media availability on Monday, May 6, following their postseason elimination two days earlier, Leafs President Brendan Shanahan and General Manager Brad Treliving, along with MLSE CEO Keith Pelley will speak to reporters on Friday, May 10.
According to Kypreos, “It’s fully expected that they’ll be aligned on the team’s short-term plans to get this runaway train back on the rails.”
That being said, Kypreos noted in his column that the organization, having already fired head coach Sheldon Keefe, “will come with a different tone that no longer supports the idea of the Core Four (Marner, Tavares, William Nylander, and Auston Matthews).”
With his contract running out on June 2025, Marner “is now expendable,” wrote Kypreos, “because of what it will take to re-sign him.”
Ultimately, Kypreos thinks that the Leafs will be “seeking trades for [Marner and Tavares] as early as this June’s draft,” while being positive about Marner’s upcoming contract, wherever he ends up signing him.
“[Marner’s] next contract could land him as much as $100 million,” Kypreos wrote. “With Friday’s press conference set to push the narrative that the team is still very much in a position to win now, this is the fastest, most legitimate chance the Leafs have to bring back the salary-cap balance needed to reinforce their defence and goaltending.”
Expanding on that later statement, Kypreos added that “if all goes according to plan,” then Toronto “will easily jump into the deep end of the free-agent pool this summer, where their eyes are already focused on defencemen Chris Tanev, Brandon Montour and Brett Pesce.”
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‘Multiple Teams Have Reached Out’ to Leafs About Mitch Marner