The Maple Leafs might get something back for star forward Mitch Marner after all, with the Vegas Golden Knights reportedly considering a sign-and-trade for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent.
The potential deal, still in its infancy as of Saturday evening, was first reported by Sportsnet during coverage of the final day of the NHL draft in Los Angeles.听
Leafs general manager Brad Treliving didn’t comment on the report, but acknowledged he’d rather get something than nothing听鈥 a real possibility with free agency starting Tuesday at noon.
鈥淵ou’d always like to get something,鈥 said Treliving. 鈥淭hat’s not always the case. That’s probably as far as I want to get into it ... We’ll see how things unfold.鈥
Reports out of Marner’s camp have suggested the nine-year Leaf is adamant about leaving his hometown team, the only one he has ever played for in the NHL, as an unrestricted free agent.
The days between the draft and free agency are usually volatile in terms of speculation about trades and contracts. Marner has been believed to want a few days to visit teams and consider his options once the market opens. If he signs elsewhere on Tuesday or later, the Leafs would get nothing in return for the elite winger.
It’s possible that anonymous reports about a Marner sign-and-trade are nothing more than a pressure tactic to get him to change his mind.听But if he has settled on Vegas, there could be advantages all around.
For one, the Leafs are the only ones who can offer Marner an eight-year deal. If he signs elsewhere, teams can only offer seven years.
Vegas is also very tight to the salary cap and would have to clear space to add Marner at $12 million or more per year.听听
One name mentioned is Golden Knights centre Nicolas Roy, who has two years left on his deal at $3 million per season. He scored 15 goals last year as a depth forward.
Treliving also has other business before the clock strikes noon on Tuesday.
By Sunday evening, teams must deliver qualifying offers to retain rights to their restricted free agents. The key ones for the Leafs are Matthew Knies, Nicholas Robertson and Pontus Holmberg. Treliving expects all three to get offers.
Speculation is rampant that Knies will be targeted by an offer sheet from a rival. The Leafs, however, have plenty of cap space to match any offer. Still, Treliving would rather have Knies under contract before Tuesday.
Veterans Max Pacioretty and Steven Lorentz are, like Marner, also heading for unrestricted free agency.
鈥淲e’ve got some internal business that we’re focused on as well,鈥 said Treliving. 鈥淲e’ve got some of our own free agents. But I think there’ll be players available that can certainly help out in different positions.鈥
One thing Treliving wasn’t able to do was make a trade during the two-day draft. He’d hinted he would try to trade down, using the Leafs’ higher picks to get more in the lower rounds or next year, when they have only three.
鈥淲e had some opportunities with our second-round pick, but we felt the gap ... was too far, and the staff was really passionate about our pick (Norwegian forward Tinus Luc Koblar),鈥 said Treliving. 鈥淭here wasn’t really any trade-up scenarios.鈥
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