Pierre LeBrun makes his feelings known about Mitch Marner's current situation with Leafs after trade deadline fiasco

By R. Nikhil Parshy

Modified Mar 13, 2025 18:22 GMT

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Mitch Marner and the Toronto Maple Leafs were placed in an awkward position at the trade deadline. The Leafs, who were one of the contenders to land Mikko Rantanen, were asked by the Carolina Hurricanes if they were willing to give up Marner in a direct trade. The Toronto forward declined to waive his no-trade clause and stayed put.

This comes with Marner and the Leafs still not agreeing to a contract extension. He is in the final year of a six-year $65.41 million contract and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Toronto's management was clear with him that if he considered getting traded, they would be interested in bringing him back as a free agent.

As per NHL insider Pierre LeBrun on TSN's "SportsCentre" hosted by Jay Onrait, Marner handled the situation well because he expected that the Leafs might consider trading him.

"I think if you're Mitch Marner, I thought he handled it really well when he met the media in Denver," LeBrun said on Wednesday (06:20). "He didn’t sugarcoat it. He said, 'Yeah, all this happened and, you know, I wasn’t that shocked.'

"One of the things that will tell you how this will go is whether the relationship is hurt now because they tried to trade him. Does that impact his desire to stay? Or does it go the other way, where Mitch Marner realizes, 'Whoa, that was real. I just realized I love this team. I want to stay here.' So does he eventually sign, and was this situation the impetus that gave him clarity in the moment? It’s hard to say which way it’ll go."

Pierre LeBrun backs Brad Treliving's decision to ask Mitch Marner about waiving no-trade clause

There were a few eyebrows raised when the news broke that Toronto asked Mitch Marner to waive his no-trade clause. The winger has recorded 719 points for the Leafs in his career and has been vocal about being loyal to the team. However, in Pierre LeBrun's opinion, Toronto had the right to at least consider its course of action.

"So what I’m saying is, a lot of people are surprised this happened with Marner," LeBrun said on Wednesday (07:50), via 'SportsCentre.' "But it’s Brad Treliving’s job to manage his assets. And, of course, he’d much rather have Marner signed than traded — that’s clear. But it’s his job to manage the assets of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and for him not to have at least investigated this opportunity? I think he wouldn’t be doing his job, even though it might have hurt some egos. That’s just the reality of it."

The insider also revealed that for a brief period, there was a possibility of the Leafs keeping Marner and trading for Mikko Rantanen. However, their final offer fell through and the Hurricanes pivoted to the Dallas Stars who were also able to sign the Finnish forward to a long-term contract.