An air of finality and change permeates through Leafs’ end-of-year media day

Beyond an abandonment of the team’s north-south principles, the day was primarily centred around the team’s uncertain future, as Mitch Marner, John Tavares and Matthew Knies all require new contracts. Marner will enter free agency as the highest-profile player on the market and though he genuinely once again re-iterated how much he’s loved playing for the Maple Leafs, it appears that his tenure with the club may be over.

“It is 24 hours after our season ended. I haven’t sat down with my wife, I haven’t talked to her about the future, our next steps, and that will be in the next couple of weeks,” Marner said. “We’ll do that and we’ll figure stuff out. But I’m forever grateful and especially with this group.”

Parsing through tense agreements for clues may be a fool’s errand and while Marner has been absolutely genuine about how much he has loved playing for the Maple Leafs, it appears very likely he will test free agency to become the highest-paid winger in the NHL, a development that would radically disrupt the makeup of this team. Marner notched 102 points during the regular season, plays plus-defence but his career-worst performance in Game 5 against the Panthers, and the ensuing reaction to his play in Game 7, may be catalysts for change.

“I have always loved spending time here. I’ve loved being here. As I said the other night, I have been so grateful. I haven’t processed anything yet. It is all so fresh. Losing sucks,” Marner said.

If Marner walks away in free agency, leaving the Maple Leafs with nothing in return, aside from renewed cap space, it would mark the end of the Core Four era and perhaps mark a change in the team’s roster-building philosophy, as Treliving continues to build the club in his own visage, with Kyle Dubas’ faint imprint still making a dent.

It’s widely expected that John Tavares will re-sign with the Maple Leafs, but there is uncertainty that comes with being a free agent, and there’s an outside chance that the 34-year-old considers a new avenue as well.

“Everything plays into it,” Tavares said Tuesday. “But you want to make something work, you do everything you can to try to find what works on both sides and what’s fair for myself and my family and for the team. I’ve expressed my desire to stay and want to make it work.”

Tavares scored 38 goals this year in a resurgent campaign where he used his power game and superior hockey intelligence to great effect. The Core Four era began when Tavares signed a seven-year contract worth $11 million on Canada Day 2018. Seven years later, the Leafs have perpetually operated as an offensive dynamo that routinely underperforms relative to the sum of their parts in the postseason. Tavares is firmly rooted in Toronto and he could come back at a rate that is well below his market rate. It should be noted that the Maple Leafs simply can’t take Tavares’ loyalty for granted or it could spur further change.

And in between the principals, Max Pacioretty told reporters that he’s going to take some time to consider his next steps, stating that it was difficult to be away from his family. Pacioretty emerged as a fan favourite and was the lone player to provide real depth scoring for the Maple Leafs in the playoffs. He excelled on a professional tryout agreement and would be gladly welcomed back but at 36, it’s possible he played his final contest of his 939-game career. A summer of change could also lead to disruption within the margins.

Knies balked at the idea that it would require an offer sheet for him to arrive at a new deal with the Maple Leafs.

“I want to be here. I want to play here. That’s all that matters to me,” Knies said, in response to consecutive questions about restricted free agency.

There’s simply no way that the Maple Leafs would let Knies out of their sights, but even at this juncture, his impending contract negotiations represent a state of change. Knies is part of the revamped core, he’s the best young player the franchise has by some distance, and it’s clear that he soaked up his time with Matthews and Marner on the first line over the past two years, knowing that he could eventually be elevated into a face-of-the-franchise role down the line.

“I was pretty fortunate to play with the two best players in the NHL,” Knies generously offered.

Shanahan’s future is also undecided at the time of this filing, and that could portend further change, with some of the principal characters from his vision seemingly heading for new destinations, imminently.

“It’s tough to look back and try and change things,” Marner said. “That’s what hurts the most, looking back and saying what if and what you could do. There’s nothing you can change, it’s happened, and that’s what sucks the most.”