TSN: Darren Dreger on TSN 1050 radio on if Toronto Maple Leafs would ask Mitch Marner about waiving his no-movement clause, would he waive it, or would he wait for free agency?
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Dreger: Yeah, there’s some question as to what the offseason is going to look like and I believe that Brad Treliving 100% is going to execute change. But again, if we’re talking about the core of the Maple Leafs, really we’re talking about two guys, aren’t we? You know, we’re talking about Marner. We’re talking about Tavares and you’re looking at no move clauses.
And look, if we want to drill down on Mitch Marner for a moment. I’ve been around Darren Farris for a long time. The agent for Mitch Marner. And if you want to investigate his history, especially with elite-level players, going into the final year of their contract on the cusp of unrestricted free agency, he walks those guys to free agency. That’s what happened.
So armed with the no-move clause, and everything else, as Mitch stated in his exit interview, they’re open to have conversation about an extension. You know, he says he looks forward to having that conversation. Hopes that he can extend his career with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
But beyond that, that’s what’s going to be the intriguing elements, all of this. If Brad Treliving and management, if the Leafs in general feel like they’ve got to find a way to move one of those two guys. Well, how do you execute that? How does it work? What sort of pressure tactics are you willing to embrace, to try and encourage those players to change their mind? It’s not going to be easy.
Hayes: “No, it won’t be. We’re with Darren Dreger, and you know, like Tavares and Marner are different stages of their careers. You know, as well, John, I think is well aware he’s not making that kind of money in the future, but Marner will be expecting to make more than he is right now I would assume.
Dreger: “He might,”
Hayes: “I’m mean he’s a UFA at 27. And yeah, this is where it’s going to be interesting because I, I don’t know I can’t speak for Treliving. I can’t speak for Shanahan. Shanahan is you know, if he’s, if he’s back and he’s still the man in charge. You know, that’s why I kind of speak to the idea that I think everything’s just gonna continue because he’s been very patient with these guys. He’s been very committed to them for a long time. I don’t see why it would all of a sudden change when it didn’t last year, the year before, the year before that.
But I am curious if you know, with, with the Marner situation in particular, you know, and possibly him just playing it out. You know, when he three, six years ago, five years ago when he was coming up, he, he was the man like they, they were still having a vision, they were having visions of winning Cups and Mitch being a main piece on that.
Curious if that is what could lead to maybe Darren Farris, his agent, the Marner camp changing, realizing they’re in a different position today. I would assume. Maybe I’m wrong on that. But five years ago, they knew they had the Leafs because the Leafs had to have Mitch Marner. I don’t know if the leafs feel they have to have them anymore. And as a result, I don’t know if they can negotiate or plan on negotiating the same way, Dregs.”
Dreger: “Right
Hayes: “Because I would think now you got eight years. You’re like sorry, Mitch, you guys haven’t won anything and we don’t feel the same way we did five years ago.”
Dreger: “Yeah, that’s a tough negotiation, Brian, and you’re right you know, I I had someone describing the fair or unfair, Mitch Marner is, is a support player. That’s, that’s what he is.
And if you subscribe to that, and, you know, his productivity in the regular season would suggest otherwise. He’s more than that, of course, but that’s not what we’re talking about here. You know, it doesn’t seem likely that the Maple Leafs are going to have the appetite or the stomach to give him the money, the money that he’s making or the money that William Nylander is about to make.
Okay, so then how do you address it? If you can convince him to do a sign-and-trade, where you get back something. Or you can’t convince him to trade period, then you know, I guess the only thing you’re left with is letting him walk into free agency.
And it’s addition by subtraction, you know, a year from July one, because now you’ve got close to $11 million in cap space that you can reinvest, but that doesn’t do anything to polish up what your needs are either on defense or what other areas of immediate you feel that you have in time for next season.
Jeff O’Neil: “Darren, what would be the motivation for a player to kind of just say, and it is the players right, I have always said that where I would tell the team, you gave me the no-trade, no-movement, don’t even ask me, I’ll ask you. Like, don’t even bring it to my attention.
But if the team shows their desire to move away from the player, doesn’t the player say, ‘ya, maybe it’s time to go somewhere.’ Who would want to live in that environment?
Dreger: “Yeah.”
O’Neil: “Just for this spite sake. Like just to say I’m going to show them. I’m going to keep playing for the team when they don’t want me to. It just doesn’t make a ton of sense to me.”
Dreger: “No, it doesn’t. And look, it used to be, you know, and it could be the case, you know, specific to Marner because of the no-move, where, you know, if Treliving goes him, to Darren Farris and says, ‘Okay, well, we are interested in exploring trades.’ Farris goes okay, well, I’m going to talk to the client and the family. And we’re going to come back with an option.
Might be no option because he’s not interested in trade at all, as we’ve already discussed. He might be more open to it than I think, or he might be open to it in a limited field of one or two teams, and we’ll give you the destination of one or two teams.
I honestly don’t think that the noise is going to influence Mitch Marner, How much more he can a guy take in the market? And I say that and there’s probably people driving on the 401 right now going, Oh, we can turn up the heat because we’re Leafs Nation. I mean, you know, this kid has been a beacon for that sort of level of negativity for at least the last few years. Couple for sure.
So if he’s competent enough that he feels that he can block it out, and he can be protected by family and friends and his teammates and all that. Maybe he can endure it.
But I do think that just in doing due diligence, it would make sense for Brad Treliving with or without consent of Mitch Marner and Darren Farris would engage in, maybe he already has in conversation with teams. Just planting that seed.
And then when you’ve got something you think you can work with, you take it back to the agent in the player and say, Okay, we haven’t asked you for a destination of choice, but teams are asking and we feel like we could get something done with Team X. Any interest in doing that? And then you work off the potential of that scenario.
I’m not saying that’s what’s going to happen, but I think that that’s how I would think and operate if I were a GM.