Mitch Marner Facing Final Days With Maple Leafs

Mitch Marner is facing his final days as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Mar 10, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Mitch Marner (16) warms up before a game against the before the game against the Utah Hockey Club at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images / Rob Gray-Imagn Images

It appears Mitch Marner is facing his final days with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The superstar forward is a pending free agent and seeking a massive payday with his next contract. It’s a deal he’s earned being one of the top scorers and two-way players in the NHL, but it’s becoming unlikelier he signs that contract with the Maple Leafs.

The latest hit to his future with the Maple Leafs came in a shocking post-deadline report. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported that the organization approached Marner about waving his no-trade clause to facilitate a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes for Mikko Rantanen. Marner declined, and the deal was scrapped.

Following the team’s first game after the deadline, a 7-4 defeat at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche, Marner was asked directly about being a Maple Leafs player next season. He gave a non-committal answer in response.

“Like I talked to you guys, man, I’m not gonna get into any of this contract stuff,” he said. “I’ve been very grateful, and I’ve loved my time being a Leaf. So, I’ll leave it with you guys. And we got 20 games left here that aren’t going to be easy. We got to make sure we just keep our foot down on the gas here and give ourselves the best position to go into playoffs.”

That doesn’t sound like a player too interested in re-signing to me. Rather, it sounds like a player who knows this is his last few months with his current organization. He and the rest of his teammates in Toronto have a final shot at the Stanley Cup before this talented core blows up.

The writing has been on the wall for months now. If the two sides were keen on hammering out a deal before free agency, it would already be done. The Leafs found a way to agree to new deals with superstars like Auston Matthews and William Nylander despite the salary cap constraints and difficult negotiations. This situation with Marner is different. It feels like a slow, drawn out break-up, and Marner’s days in Toronto are dwindling because of it.

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