The Mitch Marner saga with the Toronto Maple Leafs is over.
Marner was the top pending free agent available ahead of July 1. However, ahead of free agency, Marner signed an eight-year, $96 million deal in a sign-and-trade with the Vegas Golden Knights. The deal is worth $12 million per season.
Marner is coming off a career-high 102-point season and is one of the top players in the NHL. The star winger is from Toronto and was selected fourth overall in the 2015 NHL Draft by the Maple Leafs.
The star winger had spent his entire career with Toronto up until this point. He’s fifth in franchise history in points and was a key reason why the Maple Leafs have been a perennial playoff team for the last several seasons.
In return, the Maple Leafs are acquiring bottom-six forward Nicolas Roy, according to Bob McKenzie. The veteran center skated in 71 games, recording 15 goals and 16 assists for 31 points. In the playoffs, he had 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points in 11 games. Roy has two years left on his five-year, $15 million deal.
Maple Leafs Were Trying to Trade Marner
After Toronto was eliminated from the playoffs, it seemed likely that Marner would be leaving in free agency.
Yet, Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving had made it clear that they wanted to get something back for Marner and were interested in making a sign-and-trade.
“You’d always like to get something, right? That’s not always the case. That’s probably as far as I want to get into it, but we’ll see how things go,” Treliving said after the draft on June 28. “I don’t know if the chances are greater today than they were yesterday, or they’re going to be better or worse tomorrow. I understand the interest, but certainly we’ve got nothing to report, and I don’t want to get involved in speculation.”
Toronto ended up getting something back for Marner, as the Maple Leafs now turn their attention to free agency on July 1 and re-signing their own players.
“We’ve got some internal business that we’re focused on as well,” Treliving said. “We’ve got some of our own free agents that we continue to work at. But I think there’ll be players available that can certainly help out in different positions.”
The Maple Leafs still have over $6 million in cap space to make more moves in free agency.
Maple Leafs Acquire Maccelli
Toronto made a trade earlier on June 30, acquiring winger Mattias Maccelli from the Utah Mammoth.
The Maple Leafs acquired the 24-year-old in exchange for a conditional third-round selection in 2027. If Toronto earns a playoff berth and Maccelli records at least 51 points in the 2025-26 season, the pick will be converted to a second-round selection in 2029.
“We appreciate everything that Matias has done for the organization,” Mammoth general manager Bill Armstrong said. “He is a great person, consummate professional, and we wish him all the best.”
Maccelli has one year left on his three-year, $10.28 million deal. He recorded 8 goals and 10 assists for 18 points in 55 games last season.
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