Report: Leafs may accuse Golden Knights of tampering if they sign Mitch Marner July 1

Another wrinkle in the Mitch Marner saga.

On Sunday’s edition of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman stated that the Toronto Maple Leafs could go after the Vegas Golden Knights, in regards to tampering, if they sign the longtime Leaf forward once NHL Free Agency opens on July 1.

“I’m not passing any judgment here on guilty or not guilty of tampering,” Friedman said. “There’s been some talk that if Marner goes to Vegas, the Maple Leafs will go after Vegas for tampering. Again, I have no proof that Vegas is guilty of anything, but it’s a time around the league where teams are extremely sensitive about it…a couple of GMs told me on Saturday they think the NHL is itching to try and make an example out of someone.

“If they make a deal with Toronto and send a good player or two to Toronto, I’m betting any chance the Maple Leafs file for tampering goes away.”

This comes the day after reports started to circulate that the Maple Leafs and Golden Knights are negotiating a potential sign-and-trade for Marner, similar to what the the Calgary Flames and Florida Panthers agreed to in July 2022, in which Matthew Tkachuk signed an eight-year contract extension with the Flames before being traded to the Panthers in a blockbuster deal.

Per reports, if a trade were to be made, the Leafs would receive forward Nicolas Roy and defenseman Nicolas Hague as part of the trade.

Friedman mentioned that Vegas’ interest in Marner spans over the past year. He brought up the potential trade that almost happened at the 2024 NHL Draft, where the Leafs expressed interest in Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore, but the deal ultimately fell through.

It was reported that Marner declined to waive his no-trade clause, which could have led to a deal with the Carolina Hurricanes before the trade deadline. According to Friedman, the Golden Knights were brought in to potentially sweeten the pot.

“Vegas was brought in, and they talked about Marner to Vegas, [Mikko] Rantanen from Carolina to Dallas, as eventually happened, but they couldn’t sort out a way to make it all work for the Hurricanes. Was there a pit player or packages of players they could get that made them happy? But a three-way option was discussed. I don’t think it ever went to Marner, but they talked about it. … It’s another example of how Vegas was interested in Marner as a player. Again, it just couldn’t work.”

Friedman stated that the Golden Knights inquired about Marner’s signing rights during the NHL Draft Combine, and that discussions started to ramp up heading into the draft last week.

“I do believe over the last few days to a week, those conversations have begun, that the Maple Leafs and the Golden Knights have discussed what a trade for Marner’s rights could look like.”

If a sign-and-trade does happen, the Golden Knights would have to make room to bring Marner into the fold, regardless of the team being able to go 10 percent over the salary cap during the offseason. Roy has a cap hit of $3 million through the 2026-27 season, while Hague is a pending restricted free agent. According to CapWages, the Golden Knights have a little over $7.6 million in projected cap space. With many projecting Marner to make $13 million a year in a new deal, Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon is going to have to get creative.

Marner has been with the Leafs since the team took him in the first round of the 2015 draft. Across nine seasons, the Toronto native has appeared in 657 regular-season games, scoring 221 goals and 520 assists for 741 points, including 63 points in 70 postseason appearances. This past season, he set career highs in assists (75) and points (102) in 81 games.