Report: Hurricanes asked Maple Leafs for Mitch Marner in potential trade for Mikko Rantanen

One of the biggest stories of this year’s deadline was the drama surrounding Mikko Rantanen and the Carolina Hurricanes, who were forced to shop him on the trade market just over a month after acquiring him from the Colorado Avalanche. While he was finally dealt to the Dallas Stars Friday, it was reported that the Toronto Maple Leafs were one of the teams heavily pursuing Rantanen. Now, as the dust settles on a hectic day of deals, more details on that potential exchange are emerging.

It was first reported by Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos that the Leafs offered the Hurricanes two first-round picks and top prospects Fraser Minten and Easton Cowan for Rantanen. Carolina turned down this offer, apparently chasing a bigger piece.

According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Hurricanes asked for Mitch Marner as part a possible deal involving Rantanen. He writes that the Leafs approached Marner about a potential exchange, but he declined to waive his full no-movement clause.

“The Hurricanes initially asked for Mitch Marner in return for Rantanen. Because it was for Rantanen, the Maple Leafs had to consider it. They told the winger their desire is to sign him, but they had to ask in this case. As is his right, Marner declined to move, re-iterating his desire to stay.”

It’s important to add that Friedman clarifies at this point that neither teams nor Marner’s agent have commented on this report at this point. Nevertheless, the prospect of the Leafs communicating with Marner about this move and him refusing to waive his no-movement clause raises a number of interesting questions.

Chief among them, what does this indicate from Marner’s perspective headed into free agency this summer? Now on the final year of his contract, there has been speculation about whether the 27-year-old is interested in re-signing with the Leafs long-term or if he’ll test the market in free agency.

As one of the biggest names hitting free agency this summer, it’s hard to imagine he won’t at least entertain offers from other teams, and this report shows the interest is clearly out there. Not to mention with Rantanen signing for 8 years at $12 million AAV in Dallas, it indicates a ballpark value for Marner. Whether or not the Leafs were actually interested in trading him or if they were just considering all options is unclear, but his refusal to allow it does indicate to some degree that the Toronto native may be interested in remaining with his hometown team.

Another interesting piece of this is that one major reason the Leafs were pursuing Rantanen was reportedly as a potential replacement for Marner himself, should he opt to test the free agency market come July 1st (and provided, of course, that Rantanen agreed to sign long-term). As a playmaking winger, he could have seamlessly replaced Marner alongside Auston Matthews, while bringing a little extra goalscoring upside.

Now, they’ll have to return their attention to convincing the longtime Leaf to remain in the blue & white, before Brad Treliving has too much of a bidding war on his hands.