It's more and more like Mitch Marner and the Toronto Maple Leafs are willing to be patient when it comes to deciding on the superstar's future beyond the 2024-25 season.
Marner has been working out in Vail, Colorado with Colorado Avalanche forward and Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby. While doing the rounds during the NHL's media tour on Tuesday in Henderson, Nevada, MacKinnon spoke to reporters including The Hockey News' Michael Traikos.
View the original article to see embedded media.
“I think Marner got a lot of flak. He’s one of the best players in the league," Mackinnon said. "Toronto, I definitely feel for them.”
Nathan MacKinnon, who skated with Mitch Marner this summer, said he sympathizes with what the Leafs are going through after yet another first-round loss.
“I think Marner got a lot of flak. He’s one of the best players in the league. Toronto, I definitely feel for them.”
— Michael Traikos (@Michael_Traikos) September 10, 2024
Marner is an unrestricted free agent. After the Maple Leafs bowed out in the first round of the 2023 NHL playoffs, the Leafs made some changes. They fired head coach Sheldon Keefe and replaced him with Craig Berube. They also named Auston Matthews the team's 26th captain in franchise history. But their core forwards, which include Matthews, Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares, remain intact.
With Marner and Tavares set to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the upcoming season, speculation ran rampant about Marner's short-term future with the Maple Leafs. It began in the days after the Leafs were eliminated from the postseason when Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving stated that they would look at everything.
Related: Report: Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving Confirms Interest in Retaining Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi, Won't Trade Mitch Marner Just For the Sake of Making a Change
As the summer continued, Treliving also made it a point to say they weren't going to make a move just for the sake of making a change.
During the latest edition of 32 Thoughts, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman spoke on Marner who said he's heard that Marner has "looked dynamite" skating with MacKinnon and Crosby.
Related: ‘I’ve Heard He’s Looked Dynamite With (Sidney) Crosby And (Nathan) MacKinnon As Linemates At This Vail Camp’: Maple Leafs’ Mitch Marner Reportedly Training with Pair of NHL Stars in Colorado
Training camp is set to open next week with Marner's immediate future sure to be the No. 1 storyline heading in. Especially now that Nick Robertson ended his stalemate with the Maple Leafs and signed a one-year, $875,000 deal with the club on Tuesday.
Related
Former Maple Leafs Defenseman Jordie Benn Retiring From Hockey and NHL
Easton Cowan, Fraser Minten Among Maple Leafs Named to Toronto's Prospects Showdown Roster in Montreal
Report: Max Pacioretty and Jani Hakanpaa Next for Maple Leafs to Add to Roster Ahead of Training Camp Following Singing of Nick Robertson
News from THN.com
It's Clear NHL Expansion Isn't Ending Anytime Soon: 'I Don't Think We're Necessarily At That Ceiling'
Eight More NHL Goalies with New Creative Masks Ahead of the 2024-25 Season
'Universally Adored': Blue Jackets Players, GM Express Grief At Loss of Johnny Gaudreau, Brother
