All eyes have been on Mitch Marner ever since the Toronto Maple Leafs were knocked out of the playoffs in the second round, as fans and media alike are waiting to see which team Marner signs with in free agency.
New reports Saturday indicated that the Vegas Golden Knights have emerged as frontrunners in the Marner sweepstakes. Insider Elliotte Friedman announced that there could be a sign-and-trade deal in the works that would also potentially involve Vegas center Nicolas Roy going to the Leafs.
This is a bombshell for hockey fans. The Golden Knights have always been aggressive in pursuing elite NHL talent, like with the blockbuster trade to acquire Jack Eichel. But considering Marner's price tag, which could be upwards of $12 million, he would immediately become the highest-paid member of the team.
The Maple Leafs and Golden Knights are discussing a sign-and -trade for Mitch Marner, according to multiple reports.
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 28, 2025
Marner is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/qfoLSOVRC1
That's for good reason, too. Marner just enjoyed his first 100-plus point season, recording 27 goals and 102 points this year. He's also had 25 or more goals in five different campaigns, including each of the last four seasons.
But Marner does plenty beyond the scoresheet, too. His hockey IQ is among the sharpest in the league, with a keen eye for where his teammates will be and the accurate passing skills to set up linemates perfectly in order to execute on scoring chances. Marner carries the puck with poise, rarely making hasty decisions but instead remaining patient to outsmart the other team.
The 28-year-old was also a finalist for the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 2022-23 which goes to the league's best defensive forward, That just further proves how his two-way game has continued to set him apart as one of the top wingers in the league right now.
There's one big problem here: cap space. According to PuckPedia, Vegas currently has $5.615 million to play with as we approach July 1. If the Knights send Roy to Toronto, that would free up another $3 million in salary, but $8.6 million is not nearly enough to land Marner. There's undoubtedly plenty of other offers for significantly more money on the market.
Would Marner take a pay cut in order to play on a perennial contender alongside Eichel on the top line? Maybe, but an $8.6 million AAV would put him on the same level as someone like Patrik Laine or Bo Horvat, two players whose combined point total from last season is still less than Marner alone. Even Sam Reinhart on a similar salary has cracked the 90-point plateau once in 2023-24, where Marner has done it four separate times.
Clearly, someone else would have to get thrown into the mix in order to give Marner a paycheck that he deserves. The Golden Knights already have six players on the active roster that make at least $7 million annually. In order to inch closer to the range of $12 to $14 million that Marner is expected to draw, Vegas would have to drop someone like Tomas Hertl and his $6.75 million, which the team could be unwilling to do.
There's also the option of including Nicolas Hague in this deal, then dumping salary in a separate swap. Hague is set to become a restricted free agent on July 1, meaning he is eligible for offer sheets to come in from around the league. The Golden Knights would undoubtedly get more value from a sign-and-trade invovling Hague than they would from offer sheet compensation.
From the Maple Leafs perspective, getting anything from the Marner fiasco at this point is worth it. GM Brad Treliving told reporters that "unless there is significant change here, I would anticipate he's going to hit the market." He's pretty certainly not returning to Toronto, so it would benefit both sides of a potential trade to deal Marner now as opposed to letting him walk for free.
"You’d always like to get something, right? That’s not always the case. That’s probably as far as I want to get into it, but we'll see how things go."Toronto GM Brad Treliving, via Sportsnet
Without a doubt, rumors will continue to heat up as we get closer to Tuesday, but as of now it would appear that Vegas has one foot in the door in landing Mitch Marner.