In a world of uncertainties, one thing is for sure: the Vegas Golden Knights badly want Mitch Marner. On Saturday, Darren Dreger reported that they had resumed trade talks with the Toronto Maple Leafs in an attempt to acquire his signing rights.
Across social media, fans of the Golden Knights scratched their heads. Free Agency is just two days away, beginning on July 1st. The Golden Knights could just sign Marner without giving anyone or anything up in a trade, right?
Wrong.
On Sunday’s episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Elliotte Friedman answered the question that everyone is asking.
But first, a recap:
“Marner, Vegas, and Toronto. This has been going on for at least a year,” began Friedman. “You’ll remember on a previous pod we talked about Marner, and Vegas, and Toronto talking last year around the Draft, Toronto proposing a Marner for Theodore deal, and Vegas not wanting to do it because they wanted to keep Theodore– which they did.
“[The Golden Knights] just didn’t think that move worked for them,” Friedman said. “It wasn’t because they didn’t like Marner; it was because they wanted to keep Theodore. They were still very interested in Marner as a player.
“Let’s fast forward, Trade Deadline. As we know now, Mitch Marner declined to waive his No Move Clause to go to Carolina,” continued Friedman. “At some point, Vegas was brought in. And they talked about Marner to Vegas… but they couldn’t sort out a way to make it all work for the Hurricanes. I don’t think it ever went to Marner, but they talked about it. And again, it’s another example of how Vegas was interested in Marner as a player. It just couldn’t work.
Read More: BREAKING: Golden Knights, Maple Leafs Discussing Marner Trade
“Let’s fast forward again, Draft Combine. I don’t know the full context of the conversation between Toronto and Vegas there; I’ve heard different things,” Friedman stated. “But I do believe… Vegas [said] to the Maple Leafs, ‘If you make Marner’s rights available, we would like to talk to you about them.
“And I do believe over the last few days to a week, those conversations have begun, that the Maple Leafs and the Golden Knights have discussed what a trade for Marner’s rights could look like.
“Now, some people have said to me, ‘Why would Vegas do this if they’re just going to get Marner in a few days?’ There’s several reasons,” Friedman began. “Number one… Marner has talked about holding meetings with teams or going to visit.This allows Vegas to get in early and eliminate all of that.
“Number two, Vegas still needs to clear room to make this work. They don’t want to trade Karlsson, and they’ve told everybody that; they don’t want to trade Hertl, and they’ve told everybody that. They don’t want to trade Barbashev, and they’ve told everybody that. So how does this all work?
“Well… [regarding] Alex Pietrangelo, they have some decisions to make. And Pietrangelo, as I’ve said several times, is one of my favorite players, going to the Hall of Fame. But he’s going to be on LTIR for a while,” lamented Friedman. “So, that will create some room.
Read More: REPORT: Friedman Doubles Down on Pietrangelo Injury Concerns
“In the summer, you can go 10% over the cap; they’re still going to need to do a little more,” Friedman said. “I’ve definitely heard Nic Roy’s name; I’m not as certain about Nic Hague… That allows them to clear more cap room; that gets them even in better shape to add Marner.
And then, Friedman dropped a bomb– one far too big to test at Area 51.
“There is another reason that I think people are wondering about this. And certain people aren’t going to be happy about this, but I’m going to say it anyway,” Friedman began. “I’m not passing any judgment here on guilty or not guilty of tampering; I have no idea.
“There’s been some talk that if Marner goes to Vegas, the Maple Leafs will go after Vegas for tampering. Again, I have no proof that Vegas is guilty of anything,” Friedman said hastily. “But it’s a time around the league where teams are extremely sensitive about it. And, as a couple of GMs told me on Saturday, they think the NHL is itching to try and make an example out of someone.
“Once again, I’m going to stress, I don’t have any proof that Vegas is guilty of anything,” said Friedman. “But, if they make a deal with Toronto and send a good player or two to Toronto, I’m betting any chance the Maple Leafs file for tampering goes away.
“So, all those reasons– getting to Marner faster, clearing cap space,” Friedman finished. “Toronto gets good players, eliminating any possibility of any tampering investigation– which is being whispered everywhere around the league– all that goes away if this deal gets done.
I didn’t know that Bugsy Siegal was alive and working in the Maple Leafs front office.
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