The Mitch Marner situation appears to be a mess, with a new rumor emerging every day. As part of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ core four with William Nylander, Auston Matthews, and John Tavares, Marner has been the cornerstone of how the Leafs play. However, on July 1st, the 28-year-old’s six-year $65.4 million contract expires, and he may automatically become the top free agent in the league.

Yet, will the Leafs just let the man who scored 102 points in the regular season walk away? Well, TSN’s Chris Johnston didn’t think so. “I’m sure there’s going to be some conversations between then and now,” the insider said while appearing on TSN 1050’s First Up on May 27. Well, those talks still seem to be on.

TSN’s Darren Dreger dropped a big update on Mitch Marner’s possibility of re-signing with the Leafs. “Darren Dreger: If the Leafs are still interested in Marner on July 1st, Marner camp will listen to offers – TSN 1050,” NHL Rumour Report posted on X. Now the question is: How interested are the Leafs in keeping the winger on the team?

Well, the answer to that question isn’t simple. Marner and the Leafs have been going back and forth about contract discussions for quite some time now. In early March, Chris Johnston explained that negotiations hit a roadblock. Apparently, the team had been wanting to get down to business on contract negotiations for months, but Marner’s team didn’t want to engage in them while the season was on.

The Athletic also reported that at some point, the Leafs also asked Mitch Marner to waive his no-movement clause and accept a trade to the Carolina Hurricanes. These rumors started floating around when Carolina was looking to trade Mikko Rantanen in the final phase of the transfer window. However, all of this happened before the Maple Leafs drew the curtains on their most successful season in decades.

Mitch Marner’s team may be gearing up for big changes

Despite missing out on making it to the Conference Finals, the Toronto Maple Leafs had a lot of success in their 2024-25 season. The team finished on top of the Atlantic Division after 25 years with 52-26-4 and 108 points ahead of the Tampa Bay Lightning during the regular season. They also broke the curse of being the least clutch team against the Ottawa Senators, stopping the Sens’ comeback in Game 5.

In fact, the Leafs pushed Florida to the brink, losing in Game 7. That being said, the core four, including Mitch Marner, felt flat on several occasions when the team needed them the most. Remember the Game 5 blowout against the Panthers?

And so, experts believe that the Leafs may be gearing up to make big changes, and Marner may no longer be on the team when the dust settles. “I don’t think he came this far playing out his contract year to sign a new deal now. I just think he’s of the mind to at least look at the open market,” Chris Johnston, First Up. Meanwhile, Darren Dreger has another update.

“Marner is going to go to free agency, Leafs are going to try to reinvest that money,” Dreger said on TSN’s OneDrive. Mitch Marner earned a $10.903 million AAV at the Leafs, and that AAV is projected to climb to over $13 million as per rumors. It looks like the Leafs are not ready to take that kind of cap hit.

Meanwhile, NHL insider Pierre LeBrun has already named teams that could be interested in Marner. “I think a lot of the usual suspects for Marner. Teams like Anaheim and Detroit, and Chicago will want to get in on it,” LeBurn added on OneDrive. However, there’s one crucial point to remember. Neither the Toronto Maple Leafs nor Mitch Marner has confirmed the move.