Would Toronto Maple Leafs prefer to sign Mitch Marner to contract extension instead of trading him?

Is there a possibility the Toronto Maple Leafs will prioritize bringing back Mitch Marner if the right trade isn't out there? Mike DiStefano and David Morassutti start the show by giving their thoughts on the NBA FInals and why it reminds us of why the NHL does the best trophy ceremony. They also discuss if they think the Florida Panthers will end the series or if the Edmonton Oilers were able to find some momentum. They give their thoughts on Darren Dreger saying he thinks Leafs GM Brad Treliving would prefer to Marner rather than trade him and if it's the right path. To end the show, Mike and Dave grab a new Mailbag question which prompted an interesting discussion.
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[@jimlangdon1947]

Limit Mitch’s contract extension - so Mitch is paid to only play regular season games. 😀

[@MrMrneil1]

July 1st, increase depth, roster balance, and size without sacrificing skill. Leafs have gaping holes at middle 6 center (to play with and keep up with Willie), top four right shot D man (to pay with and keep up with Rielly) and reliable back-up/starter goalie (for Woll). Wingers are ok, top 3 lines M, N, M, K, Y, C / other H, G, R, D, R, S. vs. centers, Matty, 35 year old Tavares / Kampf. Last year as a center 5’9 Domi was weak in his own end and 7 goals. What if there is a UFA 6’2 center the same age and speed, but two-way, pass-first but a good shot, with Bert’s money = C. Stephenson. Top playoff team’s defense all averaged over 6’2. R & L = 6’1, B & M = 6’2, so next D man should be 6’3 but still keep up with Rielly. UFA B. Pesce is same age as Rielly, clears the front of the net, uses his stick, and joins the rush, with Brodie’s money. Paid back-up wages, reliable UFA goalie C. Talbot was playoff team LA’s starting goalie and at all star game.

[@michaelwilson1537]

This is a nightmare. Dubas really f*d this team. Marner wants to stay, which would be fine if he was able to produce in the playoffs when it matters. He's just not willing to take the physicality needed.

[@realrealityeast6278]

Still allergic to contact when defending in his own end. Nylander had more impact this year in half the games then Marner did the whole series. Literally took him 1 game to be more important. And even if he took 10mil that is still a 10mil paper weight come playoffs.

[@aaamm4010]

MIKE nothing will change they will have a weaker team this season

[@DAVELEONARD-ms3jf]

As a leaf fan for more than 50 years, I truly dont understand all the Marner hatred. Late time I checked, hockey is a team game. I really don't see any leaf catching fire in the playoffs since 93 or 03. So I suppose it's about being the odd man out as far as contract timing is concerned. In the last 20-30 years, have the buds had a goalie or dmen? Just don't get it. Sure make the team better, but the hatred. Marner has done a lot for the club and the leafs have driven the brinks truck up for the likes of JT, Big Willie, and Matthews and how differently have they performed? Guess Leafs Nation always needs someone to blame.

[@JohnCherry69]

marner is too small, doesn't engage in playoff style hockey, lowest playoff P/GP since 2018/19 of the top 3 and ghost in game 5,6 and 7 by far of the top 4 in the same time period. yes it is a team sport and the odd man out is marner when it counts. dumping both tavares and marner salary is much needed for the sake of the team instead of sacrificing the team for the sake of marner. tavares is a natural salary dump. too many players we could have and should have kept but couldn't afford have walked with this ridiculous salary structure. why the hate? likely his comments about media and fans and the lack of or zero accountability on himself or the team, not that any other player did. Maybe reilly was the only one but i could be wrong on who that one player was

[@waldmarwolchuk9483]

Mike agree Marner is better player than Nylander ,BUT Marner is INVISIBLE for 8 years in the Playoffs .. Nylander shows up in REGULAR and in Playoffs

[@mil2172]

This would be a noteworthy story if this wasnt reported by Darren Dreger. Also compared to Matthews and Nylander I dont get the sense from Tre that his no 1 priority is to extend him. Could he extend Mitch sure but hes looking at all his options.

[@raymondleach8103]

I would consider offering two options, first is a team friendly but fair deal that is accompanied with a no-move contract, secondary offer higher amount deal but Mitch doesn't get his no-move contract. The Leaf's are clearly better with him than without him, but only if they can sign him to a fair deal or use him later to get assets.

[@wainber1]

I believe a break-up of the AM34-Marner-Nylander-Morgan Rielly-Tavares quintet IS necessary. Marner's gotta go, and if he doesn't want to waive the NMC on his existing contract, Coach Berube shouldn't be afraid to monitor Marner's performance like a hawk and NOT be afraid to BENCH the winger should he underperform, or shows tone-deafness in a media availability. A message has to be sent to this core-5 that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH with performances with no heart.

[@mil2172]

Mitch ain't accepting a lower value deal or a deal with no NMC. He will only accept a high value deal with a NMC. He's shown no interest in taking a discount cause Matthews and Willy got paid.

[@wainber1]

@@mil2172 There was a time when OG Anunoby, Chris Boucher, Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, Kawhi Leonard, Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet had been on the Raptors, and that'd been back during their 2018-19 championship season. I count, of those above players who departed during the season of: - 2019-20, Kawhi - 2020-21, Ibaka and Gasol - 2021-22, Lowry - 2022-23, none - 2023-24, VanVleet, Anunoby and Siakam, leaving just Boucher from that championship team 5 seasons before The Raptors ended their: - 2019-20 season with a 92-87 loss to the Celtics in game 7 of that conference semifinal - 2020-21 season with a 125-113 loss to the Pacers, finishing 6 games out of 10th and thus the final play-in spot - 2021-22 season with a 132-97 loss to the 76ers in that conference quarterfinal - 2022-23 season with a 109-105 loss to the Bulls in a play-in game - 2023-24 season with 2 straight losses to the Miami Heat, neither of them by under 10 points After letting members of the Raptors' last championship team walk for nothing, team President Masai Ujiri got active from last December to last February via a bunch of trades. Hopefully Brad Treliving will this offseason be motivated to trade Marner so the winger doesn't get another chance to screw the Leafs in postseason play ever again. Or will it take a significant nosedive in regular-season play as what happened this past season with the Raptors?

[@WW3_Soon]

Trade Mitch to the NY Rangers for Alexis Lafreniere and K’Andre Miller!

[@rickyaz8640]

Cap increases keep getting eaten up by the top 4. If they resign him it’s just a season treading water until Tavares $ is off the books

[@LockedOnLeafs]

False. Marner extension won’t kick in until tavares is already off the books next summer.

[@rickyaz8640]

@@LockedOnLeafs this years cap increase already in Nylander & Matthews extensions (and then some, almost $7m to those 2). Marner gets + 1.5m on top of his current $ that’ll be 2 years worth of increases to the top 3, net. They won’t be ahead until the year after Tavares 11m is gone. Everyone else needs to take a discount to support those guys

[@late3619]

Well Marner is better than Nylander so he will be asking for more then him. 55 games of career hockey that had him on pace for 126 points an he ends up with 98 after the big contract signing. If Marner didn't get hurt he would have passed Willie in points. Trev made a bad signing already giving Willie the contract he did. Marner will definitely get more than Willie after taxes if it's in Toronto or some place else. Marner the only guy on the #1 unit in every situation, maybe the best 2-way winger in the league an makes everyone around him better.

[@paulzangari1209]

Zero chance marner will or should take a penny under 11.5

[@RattleheadVic73]

😂😂😂

[@tml184]

Marner should get 7 mil tops. Gbye Mitch. We don't need him or want him.

[@aaamm4010]

2 mil from Tavares contract will go to Marner, He will resign for 12.5 x 8 end to all speculation he is a maple leaf not going anywhere

[@tml184]

Wrong. Leafs are tired of Marner and his father.

[@sharpliketac526]

just wait Willie will Go the Leafs Jordan Kyrou for Berube

[@Spike10111]

Dreger is not a credible reporter when it comes to Marner news considering his past involvement in the Marner RFA saga.

[@richardhayling4339]

We don’t want Mitch end of story

[@RattleheadVic73]

I don’t believe anything Dreger has to say he hasn’t been relevant with leafs news in how many years??😂😂

[@wainber1]

The Leafs have a SINGLE playoff series win with the AM34-Marner-Nylander-Morgan Rielly-Tavares quintet, with that quintet having only ADDED members since Matthews' NHL Draft year (2016). Time for a well overdue break-up of that quintet.

[@KyleSilva-xe1jg]

Best pod!

[@lancepayne4035]

It’s not about how good Marner is, it’s about changing the team make-up so more players for less money doing same or similar jobs. More or different players spreading out money to other areas of team.

[@lancepayne4035]

This shouldn’t even be a discussion about Marner, it needs to happen. It would be the same if it was nylander.

[@kempnicholson3597]

Do not even think of an extension build a playoff team big and rugged

[@lancepayne4035]

That’s a Dreger option only.

[@ricklatour2794]

after listening to so-called experts, here is Leafs lineup next year Stamkos- 34-16 Guetzel - 88- Rinehart Marchassault - 91 - tkuchuck 74 - 11 -7 44 - montour Zadorov - Pesce McCabe - Tanev sussi - woll 160 m payroll and they still won't get out of first round

[@saucymcgee9152]

Im sorry but saying nylander had a « similar » playoff performance than marner is totally false, this guy has been carrying the team for at least the last 3 years scoring important goals and producing. Compared to a marner who’s been invisible if not for the over the glass puck flip. Nylander is a player who is producing in the playoffs and deserves more money than flippity puck marner

[@LockedOnLeafs]

Fun fact: Marner playoff pts: 50, elite defensively Nylander playoff pts: 43, below avg D

[@mil2172]

​@@LockedOnLeafsWhat playoff series are you guys watching? At one point I mistakenly thought Marner was Kampf on the ice cause they both played the same in the series.

[@saucymcgee9152]

@@LockedOnLeafsi feel like it’s about clutch moments and clutch plays once in the playoffs and nylander has been close to if not clutcher than anybody in this team and certainly clutcher than Mitch

[@tml184]

@@LockedOnLeafs Fun fact: Marner has been crap in the playoffs. POints mean nothing. He scored a ton of points last season in the first round and was invisible vs the Panthers. This year he was totally invisible. Mike is a Marner fanboy obviously.

[@agoquintal]

I'm not happy with this leaf team.. wrong coach again, Ronald McDonald should be coach and Winnie the Pooh should be back up coach, George the monkey works for peanuts and probably the best goalie.. mickey mouse for GM.

[@paullacroix527]

I gave you a click to say, ENOUGH ABOUT MM!!!

[@Stilloffside]

Dreger is a shill. Just doing marners agents talking points.

[@jesseburke3990]

No oilers will win they look like the better team it will go 7 games

[@jlove8445]

You’re soft as butter, Mitch…

[@miketomkins1136]

In my opinion if they sign Mitch to an extension then they should have him play defense which then that give us a right handed D we strongly need

[@michaelwilson1537]

He's too afraid of physical contact. You can't put him on defense.

[@oldman8952]

Saying that Treliving hasn't said that signing Marner is a priority is fair, but why would Treliving say signing Marner (soon) was a priority when Marner has already said he isn't negotiating until the 2025 offseason? Treliving isn't the sort of fool who would say something as dumb as "We can and we will." Would he rather sign Marner? I suspect he would, Marner is the guy they turn to for everything. Marner has been in the top ten forwards in the league for TOI for every one of the last five years. No other Leafs forward has been in the top ten even once in that time. That said, I think Leafs's fans deserve the opportunity to see what their team looks like without Marner. As well they deserve the opportunity to see what Marner looks like on another good team, with a really good NHL coach. Vegas and Dallas seem like likely landing spots if they move on from Marner. I can see him waiving to go to either. Actually, I would be interested in what you think of Dallas as a trade partner. They can get third party retention so it is possible to have Marner on the cheap, at least for next year. I think my wild speculation is as valid as insiders who are wrong more often than climate "scientists." Treliving is famous for talking to everyone. No one should be surprised when he talks to everyone. Could Tavares sign for 2x4? That is possible, his family is settled in TO and he is at the end of his career. He has quality of life reasons to take less to stay. There is a small chance, two is very little, three seems more like a reasonable low end, but it is possible Why would Marner take less when Matthews and Nylander both took team for every single penny they could get? Dave is on the money. Yes, you can give it a minus. For it to be worth it for any player to take less to share the wealth, everyone has to do it. When the de facto team leader says he wants every penny, that sets the tone for the team. In the same way Bergeron set the tone for his team, when he did take a little less. Marner has more points in the playoffs than Nylander and he plays much tougher matchups. Marner even has more points than Mathews and again, it is the people who play with Marner that typically get the tough matchups. Not the people who play with Matthews. There is no argument to pay Marner less than Nylander. And here is a wild card for you. The two best Leafs playoffs games in more than a decade, were the games Matthews was in the press box. Why is the team better when the soon to be highest paid player in the League isn't on the ice? The Oilers sure aren't better when McDavid isn't on the ice. Marner got overpaid. OK. Nylander got 6.9 for 60 points against sheltered competition. What do you pay Marner for 90 points against the best players in the League? Nylander should have gotten Ehlers's money. Really less than Ehlers because he had a six year deal and Ehlers had a seven year deal. The overpays are similar. When you said this time is the same as last time, it is exactly the same. They can't keep Marner and expect to do anything in the post season but sell sweaters, that said, from the perspective of management, moving on from Marner is filled with risk. Interesting times.

[@jlove8445]

Good observations

[@JohnCherry69]

First, Treliving had a chance to mention signing Marner was a priority before Marner said what his agent told him to say. Second, Marner playoff points came during the ELC years. Since then, Matthews and Nylander both have more playoff P/GP since 2018/19 and show up in game 5,6 and 7. Third, the team usually shows up when any of top guys are out of the lineup. They get more ice-time and hey a chance to show that the rest of the team is just as valuable at our measly contracts compared to the top heavy guys. I would coast with all 5 in the lineup, too. And Finally, Matthews showed what he has in the toolbox when he played with Domi and Bertuzzi, whereas, with Marner he just gets the pass back to him. I do agree Marner salary dump is the way to go