Toronto Maple Leafs GM expects Mitch Marner to test free agency

TORONTO – Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving expects star forward Mitch Marner to hit the open market Tuesday unless there’s a drastic change in contract negotiations.

Treliving said Thursday in a pre-NHL draft media availability that the Maple Leafs have communicated with Marner, who will become an unrestricted free agent if unsigned by July 1.

The Maple Leafs can still sign Marner after free agency opens, but lose the right to offer him an eight-year contract. NHL teams can sign players to a maximum of seven years on the open market.

Marner is coming off a career-best 102-point season, the last of a six-year, US$65.4 million contract.

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The 28-year-old from Markham, Ont., joined his boyhood team as the fourth overall pick in the 2015 NHL draft and has since totalled 221 goals and 520 assists in 657 games over nine seasons in Toronto.

Marner, however, has taken the brunt of the Toronto fan base’s frustration at the team’s repeated playoff disappointments.

The Maple Leafs have reached the post-season in nine consecutive years but only advanced past the first round twice, falling in the second round to the Florida Panthers on both occasions.

Treliving also said the Maple Leafs have had “positive” communication with fellow pending UFA John Tavares, with both sides hoping to keep the veteran centre in Toronto.

The 34-year-old Tavares put up 38 goals and 36 assists in 75 games last season.

Tavares signed a seven-year, $77-million contract to join the Maple Leafs via free agency from the New York Islanders on July 1, 2018.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 26, 2025.