SALT LAKE — One day after the NHL Trade Deadline came and went, multiple reports surfaced, revealing that Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner was asked to waive his no-movement clause in an effort to land now-Dallas Stars forward Mikko Rantanen.
Following the Leafs' 7-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, Marner spoke to the media and reiterated his desire to remain a member of the Maple Leafs and confirmed the ask, but didn't go into any other details when pressed.
The Maple Leafs held practice at the Utah Olympic Oval on Sunday and GM Brad Treliving opted to hold an impromptu availability with assembled media.
"I'm not going to get into any questions. We talked about it the other day with regards to contracts and the business side of it, we're not going to get into it. Other than we're aligned with Mitch, right? We're worried about this season. We're worried about the games we have coming up. We want Mitch here for a long time. But it's not a distraction. But like I said, we think the world of him, right? But it's just not a question we're going to get into every day. We've dealt with it here. We move forward. We want Mitch here. We're all focused on the next 19 (games) to go. So I just wanted to come and address you on it so you don't have to track me down. And we'll move on."
Treliving was asked one question about how well Marner responded to the ask, considering he scored twice in the loss to the Avalanche on Saturday.
"Everything. We like everything about Mitch. And there's always, hey, we talked about at the beginning of the year. We're going to try to handle the business side away from it. But I think he's handled everything extremely well. But that's where the focus is right now. And I get it. You guys have jobs to do and totally respect that. But I just wanted to make sure that we came out and addressed it. And I support Mitch a thousand percent. He's not out here on an island, as I say. We're trying to worry about winning hockey."
When another question was attempted to ask if Treliving would like to have had things settled with Marner by now, Treliving shut down the availability.
Marner is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and has a full no-movement clause in his contract, giving the player all the power in how his future is handled.
Maple Leafs teammate Auston Matthews says Marner has handled everything great given the circumstances.
"There's certain things that are out of your control. That's one of them. It is what it is. I don't really know what else there is to say about it. Everybody's focused on today and when tomorrow comes we'll focus on tomorrow and just continue to progress as a team. "
-1739680451-q80.webp "‘We got outplayed’: No excuses from Smith as Aussies weigh up whether Marnus in best line-up for Champions Trophy")
