Details emerge of failed three-team Toronto Maple Leafs trade involving Marner

As we enter another week, the question of whether Mitch Marner has played his last game as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs is still up in the air.

One thing that doesn’t appear to be up for debate: the Leafs were definitely shopping him around this past season.

According to longtime Leafs reporter James Mirtle, Marner was almost sent to the Vegas Golden Knights in a three-team trade that also would’ve included the Carolina Hurricanes.

“According to league sources, there were also discussions around a Marner-to-Vegas transaction before the trade deadline this year, a move that would have involved the Hurricanes in a three-way deal,” Mirtle wrote in an article today for The Athletic.

“It’s unclear just how far those talks went, or if Marner was asked to waive his no-movement clause to go to Vegas, but it sounds like what killed the deal was Vegas and Carolina failing to find the right assets to include to get it done.”

Earlier reporting had suggested that the Leafs tried to nab fellow star winger Mikko Rantanen away from the Hurricanes, who ultimately sent him to Carolina. Rantanen was involved in two high profile trades this season, having previously been sent from the Colorado Avalanche to Carolina in one of the most out-of-nowhere transactions in recent NHL history. Marner had a no-movement clause in the final two years of his contract with Toronto, and reportedly vetoed such a move.

Marner has spent his whole career with the Leafs since being taken fourth overall in the 2015 Draft. He put up a career-high 102 points in the regular season this past year, before following that up with 13 points in 13 playoff games. In 657 career games with the Leafs, he’s put up 221 goals and 520 assists.

If it feels like it’s been a never-ending cycle of Marner news in Toronto since the Leafs’ season ended, we should at least have a clearer idea of his future in the coming weeks. Free agency is now just 22 days away, with the NHL market set to open on July 1.

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