Report: Maple Leafs were offered meeting with Mitch Marner, pursued Mason Marchment prior to trade

It may be a formality at this point, but Mitch Marner and his camp offered the Toronto Maple Leafs a chance to meet when the free-agency window officially opens on July 1, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports.

“Toronto was offered a meeting, but I’m not sure they’d feel the need to go through with it,” Friedman wrote in the latest edition of 32 Thoughts. “I got pushback on the idea Marner could opt for a four-year deal — giving him another payday at age 32 — but a few teams said they’d heard about it. Lots of twists and turns on this file over the next two weeks. Barring a sudden change in philosophy, Carolina is expected to push all chips into the pot. I’m watching Vegas, with several of their Western Conference brethren pushing hard.”

Friedman previously reported on June 15 that Marner would not return to the Maple Leafs, and his camp refused to speak to the team ahead of free agency. Marner is widely considered the best free agent on this year’s market, and the Hurricanes are reportedly preparing to offer him a seven-year deal worth greater than $14 million annually, while the Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks are expected to prepare offers to the 28-year-old, among other teams.

Toronto also wanted to acquire Mason Marchment in a trade, Friedman reports. Marchment was traded from the Dallas Stars to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a 2025 fourth-round pick and a 2026 third-round pick on June 19. 

Marchment signed an entry-level contract with the Maple Leafs in July 2018 after going undrafted and spent several seasons with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies before playing two games with the Maple Leafs during the 2019-20 season. 

Toronto traded Marchment to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Denis Malgin in February 2020. Marchment has since evolved into a top-six forward, recording 22 goals and 47 points in 63 games with the Stars during the 2024-25 campaign, adding a goal and five points in 18 playoff games.

It will be a busy offseason for the Maple Leafs, and it appears that general manager Brad Treliving is exploring several trade options to revamp his team’s forward corps during an offseason where he’s looking to change the team’s DNA. 

With Marchment off the board, Treliving may be hunting for a top-six player looking to make an impact on a Maple Leafs team that is still firmly in their contention window.