TORONTO — Mitch Marner is expected to test free agency come July 1, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving said.
“We’ve had communication,” Treliving said Thursday. “I’d probably describe it [that] unless there is significant change here, I would anticipate he’s going to hit the market.
“And we’ll see. We’ll see where things go.”
Selected by the Maple Leafs with the No. 4 pick of the 2015 NHL Draft, the hometown forward (Markham, Ontario) has 741 points (221 goals, 520 assists) in 657 games in his nine NHL seasons but is part of a core that has won just two Stanley Cup Playoff series in that span. Toronto hasn’t been to the conference final since 2002 and is without a Stanley Cup championship since 1967.
Marner, who signed a six-year, $65.358 million deal ($10.9 million average annual value) with the Maple Leafs on Sept. 19, 2019, easily would be the top player on the market should he become available. He was fifth in the NHL this season with a team-high 102 points (27 goals, 75 assists) in 81 games, kills penalties, finished seventh in voting for the Selke Trophy, which is awarded to the League’s top defensive forward, and is in the prime of his career at 28 years old, a resume that is expected to fetch him offers in excess of $12 million per season.
If the Maple Leafs want to get any kind of return for Marner prior to the opening of free agency, it would have to be in the form of a sign-and-trade. Toronto is the only team that can offer him the maximum eight years up until noon ET on July 1; after that, every team, including the Maple Leafs, can only offer as many as seven.
“We’ll see where things go,” Treliving said.
Interestingly, a slip of the tongue from the GM may have been an indicator that the Marner-Maple Leafs marriage is truly over.
While answering a question regarding what the No. 1 priority will be for the Maple Leafs in free agency, Treliving had this to say:
“Obviously with Mitch going …”
He quickly corrected himself.
“If Mitch is going … we’ll look at all positions,” he said.
“You’re trying to make your team better and you’ve got the potential there to lose a really good player,” he continued. “So there’s lots of challenges. But we try to look at it as using those opportunities as well, right? That’s the job.
“Everybody’s focused on July 1, and I get it. We don’t play on July 2. So you can use the time on July 1 to try to make your team better. And that may come on July 1. It may come Aug. 1, Sept. 1. You’re not sure. So you continue to work the market. But certainly some challenges. Really good player.
“And I think I’ve said this before too. There’s not a Mitch Marner tree you go to and just replace him. If that indeed happens, we will continue to look at ways that we can help ourselves.”
Another key decision facing the Maple Leafs is the status of center John Tavares, with whom they have exclusive negotiating rights before he’s eligible to become a free agent on July 1. The 34-year-old, who signed a seven-year, $77 million ($11 million AAV) contract on July 1, 2018, had 74 points (38 goals, 36 assists) in 75 games this season and has expressed a desire to remain with his hometown team (he’s from Mississauga, Ontario).
“Obviously with John, there’s a deadline, right?” Treliving said. “We’ve had lots of communication. I would say you’re always a bit hesitant to frame it. I’m trying to give as much information as I can. But it’s been positive, right?
“As I think we said at the end of the year, you’ve got a player who we both expressed a shared outcome. Which is, John wants to stay, and we want to keep John. And like any other contract, there’s usually only two little stumbling blocks: term and money. Once you get by those, things tend to flow pretty quick. So we’re moving, hopefully, in a direction to bring it to closure.
“My hope is, until proven otherwise, that we’ll have a good outcome there.”
The same goes for negotiations with pending restricted free agent Matthew Knies, who is coming off a breakout season in which the 22-year-old power forward had 58 points (29 goals, 29 assists). Treliving acknowledged that Knies, who is a priority, could be a candidate to receive an offer sheet from another team, adding the Maple Leafs are aware of any and all scenarios.
“That’s not something you can operate in fear of, but you have to do proper business,” Treliving said. “So we’re hopeful we’ll get to a good conclusion.
“When that is, time will tell.”
