The Maple Leafs attempting to acquire Mikko Rantanen reportedly came down to their frustrations with Mitch Marner's refusal to negotiate a reasonable extension.
Following a very frantic and busy deadline day, Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos reported the Leafs were very close to acquiring Rantanen before he was dealt to the Dallas Stars.
Although they were unable to land Rantanen, the fact the Leafs were heavily involved in the sweepstakes for the Stanley Cup Champion should be a clear indication there is real uncertainty about Marner's future with the Leafs.
Leafs GM Brad Treliving has no issue making seismic changes, as we saw when he traded Matthew Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers.
According to James Mirtle, Marner and his agent Darren Ferris are content with taking the Leafs to July 1st, despite the Leafs making a strong push to re-sign the former first-round pick.
On a deadline edition of 'The Leaf Report,' Mirtle revealed that the Leafs are frustrated with how negotiations are going.
'I think the Leafs are very frustrated with where that's at. They really wanted to get it done. They feel they made really good strong faith offers and went pretty far. I'm pretty sure they've offered more than what Rantanen signed for. I think that's going right down to July 1 and I think Marner is going to have to decide if he wants to come back and take less or get as much as he possibly can on the open market.'
As fans saw with Marner's previous negotiations, his agent is more than happy to hold out as long as possible to get the most money out of the Leafs and it would appear that these negotiations are heading in the same direction. The difference this time around, however, is that the Leafs have a very experienced and respected GM in Brad Treliving that won't give in easily as Kyle Dubas did.
If Marner wants the Leafs to pay, he will have to have a massive playoff performance. If he doesn't show up in the playoffs, he very well may find himself on his way out of Toronto due to his unwillingness to accept a reasonable deal. If that happens, the Leafs will have an additional $10.9M in cap space opening up this summer, which could go a long way in revamping and balancing the roster.
