The Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, and Carolina Hurricanes discussed a three-way trade before the 2025 deadline that would've sent Mitch Marner to Vegas and Mikko Rantanen to Toronto, league sources told The Athletic's James Mirtle.
However, Vegas and Carolina were apparently unable to find the right assets to complete the deal. It's unclear if Marner was asked to waive his no-movement clause. It was reported after the deadline that Marner refused to waive his NMC for a separate deal that would've sent him to Carolina in exchange for Rantanen.
The Hurricanes eventually flipped Rantanen to the Dallas Stars for a package including Logan Stankoven and two first-rounders. Rantanen signed an eight-year, $96-million extension to stay in Dallas.
The Maple Leafs also spoke with the Golden Knights last offseason about a Marner trade, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman. However, Toronto was apparently rejected when it asked for defenseman Shea Theodore in return, who signed a seven-year, $52-million extension with the Golden Knights in October 2024. It's also unclear if Marner was willing to waive his NMC at that point.
Marner is set to hit unrestricted free agency on July 1, and it's widely expected that he'll sign elsewhere following a nine-year run for his hometown team. While Marner was highly productive in the regular season during his time in Toronto - including a career-high 102 points this past campaign - he's been criticized for failing to step up in the postseason. The Maple Leafs own the NHL's longest playoff streak at nine seasons, but have only two series victories in that span.
The 28-year-old is No. 1 on theScore's list of the top pending unrestricted free agents this offseason.
The Hurricanes and Golden Knights are among the teams that could pursue Marner when he hits the open market. The Hurricanes are flush with $28 million in cap space, while the Golden Knights, with $9.6 million available, would likely have to move players to pursue Marner.
