'He's Got A Say In The Process': Where Do Things Stand Between Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving and Mitch Marner?

Jan 9, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Mitch Marner (16) looks up before the start of the game against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images

Mitch Marner's future with the Toronto Maple Leafs still remains up in the air.

After speaking to the media for almost an hour inside Ford Performance Centre on Thursday morning, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving had the exact answer he's had all season on Marner re-signing with Toronto: "We'll see."

Following a disappointing playoff exit against the Florida Panthers, Treliving's tone was different.

"I had a meeting with all the players, individually, we have our exit meetings. Mitch and I had a discussion. My discussion with Mitch was, let's all take a step back. Let's take a deep breath. I got to decompress a little bit," Toronto's GM said.

"I'm going to be in touch with Mitch's representative, and all our player's representatives, and determine what's best, right? Now, Mitch has a say in this as well, so this isn't the world according to Brad. I think he's a great player. He's been a great player here. We'll have to see. We'll have to see how this all works."

Treliving referenced Marner's exit meetings as "emotional," but walked back those comments in a scrum minutes after his press conference. "I wasn't speaking directly about Mitch," he said.

"It's emotion [about the playoff loss], you got to let that die down. You got to get composed. You got to think clearly, and then start going through that process."

This was a massive season for Marner on the ice.

For the first time in his career, he hit the coveted 100-point marker. The 28-year-old finished the regular season with 27 goals and a career-high 75 assists for 102 points in 81 games. During the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, Marner had the primary assists on the game-tying and game-winning goal for Canada in the final against Team USA.

The forward followed that up with eight points — one goal and seven assists — in six games against the Ottawa Senators in the first round before scoring one goal and three assists in seven games against the Florida Panthers.

Marner's been given the chance throughout the year to say he wants to remain in Toronto after this season, but hasn't. "I've always loved my time here, I've loved being here. Like I said the other night (after the Game 7 loss), I've been so grateful and haven't processed anything yet," he said in his end-of-season media availability on May 20.

"In the next coming weeks, I'll sit down with my wife and we'll start talking and trying to figure out what the next steps are."

There's the possibility Marner doesn't return to the Maple Leafs, and currently, it appears more likely he hits the open market on July 1. If that occurs, how will Toronto recover the asset that is Marner?

"There's not a hockey tree out there that you just go and pluck the player off of, so our job is to make the team look at all the options," Treliving said.

"We've got to number one go through the process with Mitch, right? Our staff is in the process now of looking at all different outcomes, but we've got to kind of drive what we think is the best outcome, and like I said in Mitch's case, he's got a say in the matter. If that was the outcome, and we'll see where this goes, I don't think you're just going out and saying, 'Okay, let's go get this player and he replaces Mitch.'"

If there was one quote to choose from that was the most revealing from Treliving's availability, it was him discussing the genetics of the Maple Leafs.

"If you keep getting the same result," he said, "there’s some DNA that needs to change."

Whether Marner remains a Maple Leaf after July 1 remains to be seen. There's always a chance he sees what's out there and wants to stay in Toronto. For now, though, the Maple Leafs are preparing to be ready for whichever situation occurs.

"We have to change the makeup of the team. But that's speculation right now. That's hypotheticals, that I don't like to necessarily get into," Treliving said.

"So we'll see is the answer. And again, it's not trying to be elusive as much as you have to try to prepare for every potential outcome. And it may take some time to figure out the best way that we move forward. But that's what we're in the process of doing right now."