Another day, another report touching on the ever-evolving saga between the Toronto Maple Leafs and one of their superstar forwards.
According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, Mitch Marner would be open to allowing a trade to “four teams,” although the insider didn’t mention any of the potential destinations on June 26.
“There are a few teams, I don’t know the exact number. I believe there are four teams that he would go to,” Pagnotta said. “I think there’s a few more, but it all comes down to what Treliving and the staff are going to pull off.”
Pagnotta, however, mentioned two franchises that will not land Marner in a trade: the Utah Hockey Club and the San Jose Sharks.
The former was the first team ruled out by Pagnotta when Leafs Morning Take’s host Nick Alberga asked him about Marner’s potential destinations. Pagnotta mentioned the latter at the end of the segment.
“These kinds of things when they start taking a life of their own and they get like several, 100 retweets, or repost, whatever… the Leafs were pissed,” Pagnotta answered to the question of whether the rumor placing Marner in Utah was false or not. “They were genuinely, genuinely upset. I spoke to a couple people within front office and they were not happy at all about it.”
About the Sharks, Pagnotta said he believes Marner “is not going to San Jose,” and he sees it improbable that the Sharks “are gonna work out a deal and all of a sudden he’s gonna say ‘yes.’”
Marner is entering the final season of the seven-year, $65.4 million contract he signed in 2019. The deal includes a full no-move clause for the final two seasons, those being the 2023-24 and 2024-25 campaigns.
Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner ‘Holds All The Cards’
The Boston Bruins eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs and at the end-of-season availability, Marner revealed his desire to stay in Toronto and sign a long-term extension with the franchise.
“That would be a goal,” Marner said on May 6. “I’ve expressed my love for this place, this city. Obviously, I’ve grown up here. We’ll start thinking about that now and try to figure something out.”
Given Marner’s mindset and hopes to remain in Toronto, as well as his power to block any trade with the NMC present in his contract, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff believes the situation calls for patience on the side of the Maple Leafs.
“The way I view this process and the information that I’ve gleaned from this process is, there’s an order to this. “Because Mitch Marner has the full no-move, full no-trade, he holds all the cards.”
Seravalli believes they won’t force the issue until the Maple Leafs have a realistic opportunity to trade Marner. The insider thinks there will need to be an offer on Toronto’s table for the franchise to ask Marner to consider waiving his contract’s clauses.
“His employer said publicly, ‘We intend to play out the year.’ And the key word there is intent. The Leafs need to go out and get a deal first. They need to have something tangible that they’re willing to do for one of the top 15 players in the game, in order to make that happen. So until they have an offer or offers potentially multiple options that they could present to them, there’s no reason in trying to arm wrestle Mitch Marner and his camp over the clause until that happens.”
Should the Leafs Trade Nylander Instead of Marner?
In a rather bizarre turn of events related to the Marner saga and the never-ending rumors about his departure, former Leafs general manager Brian Burke shared his unique view of the situation on July 3.
Burke believes Toronto should trade William Nylander instead of Marner, as he thinks the latter is a more valuable player for the organization.
“I think the logical guy to move would be Willie Nylander and not Mitch Marner, I’ve said that before,” Burke said on The Leafs Nation on July 3. “If you are going to talk one of them into leaving, it’s not popular, people aren’t going to like it but they are going to get it.
“I think Mitch Marner is a really important player on the team, he kills penalties, I know people are down on him right now, but he’s a great kid and an important player. They are both great players, I just think Mitch Marner is a much more valuable player.”
Nylander sits at the other end of the Leafs roster for the future, about to enter the first year of an eight-year, $92 million contract extension he signed with the Maple Leafs on January 8.
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