"Just rumours": NHL GM dismisses Leafs' Marner trade talk
Perhaps more than any NHL team this summer, the Toronto Maple Leafs are subject to all kinds of trade rumours.
After yet another disappointing playoff defeat that saw the team fall in seven games in the first round, rumours have been swirling about a blockbuster trade coming from Toronto this offseason.
But according to one NHL GM, they’re exactly that: rumours.
On Tuesday, the Nashville Predators sent off defenceman Ryan McDonagh in a trade to the Tampa Bay Lightning, which cleared them to have nearly $25 million in salary cap room to work with this summer.
But asked directly whether the move could lead to a future trade for Mitch Marner, Nashville GM Barry Trotz downplayed the possibility.
I asked Barry Trotz if he’d be interested in acquiring Mitch Marner, with now some $25 million in cap room.
His response is pretty hilarious and he shrugged it off as “just rumors.” pic.twitter.com/UM90yz81N3
— Alex Daugherty (@AlexDaugherty1) May 21, 2024
“They have to talk to me, I haven’t talked to them,” Trotz replied of a possible trade with the Leafs. “I read the same stuff as you, that’s just rumours… I don’t think Mitch is a free agent.”
Marner had 85 points in 69 games this year in the regular season but added just a goal and two assists in seven playoff games. He is heading into the final year of a six-year contract, with a cap hit of $10.93 million for next season, with the possibility of hitting unrestricted free agency next summer.
NHL insider Frank Seravalli suggested this week there’s a “5%” chance Marner returns to the Leafs next year.
“They have to make big changes, it’s not a choice. Brendan Shanahan said after the season ended, we have to consider everything, everything is on the table, that’s the message. I can’t imagine doing this again for a ninth consecutive season,” Seravalli said Monday on Daily Faceoff Live.
“After spending this much on your core, knowing that it makes zero sense to even enter the season where you are either signing Mitch Marner to an extension or you trade him. To start this year in the final year of his deal makes zero sense. I think there’s a single-digit per cent chance that Mitch Marner is in a Maple Leafs’ uniform starting in October.”
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