Elliotte Friedman Reveals Why Maple Leafs' Mitch Marner Trade to Vegas Never Happened

According to Friedman, both sides showed interest, but two key issues stopped talks from advancing.

"I do believe, on some level, last year, that the Maple Leafs and Vegas talked about a trade," Friedman said. "At some point, I think Vegas was interested in Marner. I think Toronto talked to them."

Friedman said Toronto’s asking price became the first major hurdle in negotiating the trade.

"Number one was that I think Toronto was interested in Shea Theodore," Friedman said. "As the Golden Knights proved, they were not interested in trading him. They wanted to keep him."

Vegas, according to Friedman, made Theodore completely unavailable before ultimately signing him to a seven-year, $51.98 million extension last October.

"They told people, 'You want to watch Shea Theodore? You're going to watch him,'" Friedman said. "'You can buy a ticket to watch him play for us.'"

The second obstacle was Marner’s stance at the time, which didn't make Vegas feel comfortable enough to complete the trade.

"There was no guarantee that Marner at that time was going to be agreeing to (waive his no-trade clause to facilitate a trade, nor signing a contract extension with Vegas)," Friedman said. "So while I do think the two teams talked about it and Vegas had some interest, I don’t think it was ever, ever realistic."

Marner stayed in Toronto for the 2024-25 season, where he put together his best campaign, scoring 102 points in 81 regular-season games before notching 13 points in 13 postseason games.