Elliotte Friedman details reaction of Maple Leafs players to Marner/Rantanen drama at 2025 deadline

On the eve of Mitch Marner’s return to Scotiabank Arena as a member of the Vegas Golden Knights to face the Toronto Maple Leafs, Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman dropped a bombshell of a piece detailing Marner’s final season with the team.

While the article looked as far back as Marner’s early days with the Maple Leafs, before any of the contract drama or the playoff failures, he dropped some interesting tidbits about the vibe around the Maple Leafs when they tested the waters on a potential three-team swap involving Marner and then-Colorado Avalanche star Mikko Rantanen. In the piece, Friedman highlighted the speculation fatigue from Marner’s teammates as well as the shock when they realized that there were no negotiations taking place between the two sides.

Suspecting his interest in Vegas, the Leafs tried a three-way with the Golden Knights and Hurricanes. There just wasn’t a match. About eight hours before the trade deadline, they were told Rantanen wouldn’t be coming north. Twenty-four hours later, the story broke. Teammates had two reactions. First: “Oh God, we thought the trade deadline meant all of this was over.” And, second: “Wait, there are no ongoing negotiations? No contract is being discussed, at all?” It was then that other players realized the true circumstances. -Friedman

The Maple Leafs evidently returned to work and kept playing, leaving this speculation in the rearview mirror, but it’s hard to imagine that this information didn’t stick with them at all in the months that followed.

Friedman also dropped an interesting nugget from the time of the calendar switch that season, noting that there was belief Marner would have been interested in a move that would have sent him out west.

According to several sources, the Maple Leafs were told sometime before the New Year by Marner’s agent, Darren Ferris, that the winger might consider a trade to a Western Conference contender. (Ferris did not agree to be interviewed for this story.) No specific team and it was not a demand, but the message was received. -Friedman

Of course, this is moot information at this point considering that no such trade happened, but it’s interesting to know that these talks had been developing long before Rantanen was even made available.

You could make the argument that all of this is moot information now that it’s been almost a year since all of this drama went down, but it’s intriguing information to know with Marner’s impending return to Toronto.