TORONTO — This isn’t the first time the Toronto Maple Leafs have tried trading Mitch Marner’s contract, but it is certainly the club’s last and most desperate attempt to do so.
As the all-star winger sits poised to become the NHL’s most coveted unrestricted free agent on Tuesday, general manager Brad Treliving is working the phones in an attempt to salvage something for the soon-to-be-lost asset.
Marner’s most aggressive suitor, the Vegas Golden Knights, are entertaining the idea of a sign-and-trade scenario, which opens the possibility of an eight-year commitment to the player’s new team. Otherwise, the maximum term would be seven years.
On June 30, 2024, the Carolina Hurricanes traded stud UFA Jake Guentzel’s rights to Tampa Bay for a third-round draft pick.
Toronto, however, is aiming for a parting gift that would provide immediate roster help.
The Maple Leafs are reportedly interested in Knights players Nicolas Roy and/or Nicolas Hague in a potential return, according to multiple reports Saturday.
Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman tweeted he believes Roy will be bound for Toronto if the sign-and-trade is agreed upon:
“You’d always like to get something, right? That’s not always the case. That’s probably as far as I want to get into it, but we’ll see how things go,” said Treliving Saturday evening, working the draft from Toronto’s practice facility.
“I don’t know if the chances are greater today than they were yesterday, or they’re going to be better or worse tomorrow. I understand the interest, but certainly we’ve got nothing to report, and I don’t want to get involved in speculation.”
As Treliving met with reporters, his Apple Watch rang with calls.
Vegas needs to carve out cap space to accommodate a big fish like Marner.
Some of that could be accomplished, potentially, by moving Alex Pietrangelo to long-term injured reserve. The veteran’s health is in question, and he carries a hefty $8.8 million cap hit through 2026-27.
Right-shot centre Roy, 28, and left-shot defencemen Hague, 26, are certainly trade candidates, regardless.
Both won a Stanley Cup with Vegas in 2023. Neither holds trade protection.
The yet-to-be-signed Hague is set to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this week. He notched five goals and 12 points last season.
Penalty killer Roy posted a career-high 15 goals and added 14 assists last season. He carries a $3 million cap hit for the next two seasons.
But why would Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon trade a meaningful asset to Toronto when he could simply wait till Tuesday?
According to Friedman’s reporting on Sunday’s 32 Thoughts podcast, there is talk that if Marner signs in Vegas without a rights trade, “the Maple Leafs will go after Vegas for tampering”:
Editor’s note: Listen at the 7:58 mark of the podcast.
Friedman makes it clear that he has no proof that Vegas is guilty of tampering, “but if they make a deal with Toronto and send a good player to Toronto, I’m betting that any chance the Maple Leafs file for tampering goes away.”
Uncomfortable with the pre-free-agency reporting of pending UFAs coming to agreements with new teams prior in summers past, the NHL sent a memo to all clubs on Nov. 25 reminding them of tampering rules.
A second reminder was sent out this month.
“If we are made aware of tampering going on, we will be required to act,” deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Athletic last week.
What are the repercussions if found guilty?
“Fines, suspensions, and potential loss of draft picks,” Daly said.
Steve Werier, who once served as the Panthers assistant GM, noted on Twitter that Vegas could have other reasons for making such a early deal: Marner doing right by the Leafs to help his legacy; the Knights gaining early cap certainty to form their July 1 plan of attack; and setting an early benchmark for other players (Nikolaj Ehlers, Kirill Kaprizov, et al.) to negotiate their deals.
The grey area surrounding Marner’s communication with the Knights — Toronto explored a potential Marner trade for Vegas’s Shea Theodore way back last summer, before Theodore extended — wouldn’t exist had the NHL and PA not done away with the pre-free agency interview period in 2020.
“There was a benefit to, for sure,” Treliving said. “But we’ve been under this program for a while now.”
In addition to retrieving an asset for Marner, Treliving must also decide which of his own RFAs (Matthew Knies, Nick Robertson, Pontus Holmberg, Dennis Hildeby) to qualify this weekend, as well as prepare to spend Toronto’s newfound cap space in free agency.
Depth players like Steven Lorentz, Max Pacioretty, Alex Steeves, Matt Murray, and Alex Nylander could all walk away Tuesday.
“We’ve got some internal business that we’re focused on as well,” Treliving said.
“We’ve got some of our own free agents that we continue to work at. But I think there’ll be players available that can certainly help out in different positions.”
