Rumors circulated after the NHL draft in Las Vegas at the tail end of June that a trade including Mitch Marner, a huge if, would take some time to finalize and likely wouldn’t take place for at least a few weeks. As he enters the last year of his contract, Marner’s management has consistently said that the talented winger will be in the Leafs’ training camp in September. Nothing solid has been presented to suggest otherwise, as we have already mentioned.
That so, the Marner matter is still quite sensitive. General manager Brad Treliving of the Leafs made it plain a year ago that he wanted to extend the contracts of Auston Matthews and William Nylander. The signings did take place, with August seeing a four-year extension for Matthews and January seeing an eight-year extension for Nylander. So far, Treliving’s only comments about Marner in interviews have been to say that “we’re lucky to have him” and that he believes Marner is an excellent player. Extending Marner beyond 2024-25 has been mostly kept under wraps, at least in public discourse.
In addition, Marner has recently made it plain through his public relations team that he will not be fielding questions regarding the Leafs while discussing his charity, the Marner Assist Foundation, and its summer events. Prior to previous Marner charity events, that decree was not issued.
