Maple Leafs working on sign-and-trade to send Mitch Marner to Golden Knights

As Day 2 of the NHL Entry Draft rolled along on Saturday, the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights were reportedly hard at work on a sign-and-trade that would send Mitch Marner west.

Marner has been slated to hit free agency for some time now, with all signs pointing towards both sides in search of a fresh start. And while the belief was that the Maple Leafs would lose out on any compensation for their homegrown talent they selected fourth overall in the 2015 draft.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was first to report the news of a potential sign-and-trade, with the Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch later reporting there was “talk amongst league executives that (the) Leafs have asked for Nicolas Roy and Nicolas Hague in return.”

Marner has appeared in 657 regular season games for the Leafs over his nine-year career, scoring 221 goals and 741 points, adding another 13 goals and 63 points in 70 playoff games. He played out the final year of a six-year, $10.89-million AAV deal this season in Toronto — a year that was clouded by his impending status as a free agent.

Turning down a trade to the Carolina Hurricanes that would’ve landed Toronto Mikko Rantanen, Marner scored 27 goals and hit career highs in assists and points, with 75 and 102, respectively.

The winger is due for a pay raise this summer, with AFP Analytics projecting a seven-year deal carrying a $12.95-million cap hit, while Evolving Hockey projected a seven-year deal with a $12.69-million cap hit.

Vegas has been linked to Marner for some time, but the team has just $5.615-million in cap space, according to PuckPedia. There’s word that defenceman Alex Pietrangelo and his $8.8-million AAV contract is a candidate for the Long-Term Injured Reserve, which would certainly help alleviate some space. Roy is entering the fourth-year of a five-year contract paying him $3-million per year, while Hague is a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.

There’s no denying Marner would be a significant boost to the Golden Knights, adding an elite offensive talent to play alongside their No. 1 centre, Jack Eichel, in their hopes of getting deep in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since they won the 2023 Stanley Cup. Acquiring him ahead of free agency would allow for the Golden Knights to get an eighth year on his contract, something teams won’t be able to do much longer with the new Collective Bargaining Agreement kicking off in 2026-27.

Despite all the chatter surrounding the potential sign-and-trade, TSN’s Darren Dreger reported that while there’s more work ahead for both sides, he isn’t expecting anything to be finalized Saturday.

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