Maple Leafs' Stanley Cup Dreams Depend on Keeping Mitch Marner Amid NHL Trade Rumors
June 18, 2024
Mitch Marner has one year left on his deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs and has yet to come to an agreement on a contract extension with the club, sparking rumors that he may be traded this offseason.
Not so fast, says TSN insider Chris Johnston.
In the latest edition of The Chris Johnston Show podcast, he denounced the idea that the Leafs are 100-percent committed to dealing the star right winger (31:30).
"The Leafs are not leaning on Mitch Marner right now. They have not decided 100 percent they have to trade him and or that they're going to make life uncomfortable and they're getting the list of names. None of that's what's going on," he said (h/t The Hockey Writers for the transcription).
According to TSN's Darren Dreger, Leafs general manager Brad Treliving would rather sign Marner than trade him.
First Up @FirstUp1050"I think Treliving would rather extend than trade" <a href="https://twitter.com/DarrenDreger?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DarrenDreger</a> joined us this morning on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FirstUp?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#FirstUp</a> and dropped a bombshell on the future of Mitch Marner! 👀<br><br>Listen to Dreger's full interview HERE: <a href="https://t.co/v8njLGMaNf">https://t.co/v8njLGMaNf</a> <a href="https://t.co/C97X1Ofwwt">pic.twitter.com/C97X1Ofwwt</a>
In 69 games played in the 2023-24 season, Marner scored 26 goals and delivered 59 assists for 85 points. He has scored 194 times and tallied 445 assists for 639 points. He dishes the puck expertly and has been essential to a Leafs offense that scored the second-most goals per game this season with 3.63.
He is a legitimate star in the league and a leader in the Toronto locker room.
His contributions are many and Treviling understands that, telling Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic that, "Mitch controls a lot of this whole thing. If there's a way to make our team better, we're going to do it. But we're certainly not going to make a trade just so we can pound our chest and say, 'Look, we're different.'"
It is difficult to imagine a scenario where the Leafs trade Marner and get better. He is too important to what the team does well. Trading him and hoping to get enough pieces back to improve the defense or fill the enormous hole he would leave is foolish.
The team's pursuit of its first Stanley Cup since 1967 involved Marner and his ability to fuel the offense with his superb passing and setup play. Without him, the Leafs are a team with one of the best pure scorers in the game in Auston Matthews, but lacking a fellow star to get him the puck.
Keeping him, working out a contract extension that is fair to both the team and player and building around the one-two punch they provide is the best path to the championship that has eluded the organization for nearly six decades.
