Breaking NHL Rumor: Maple Leafs & Vegas Talking Mitch Marner Sign & Trade

We've been hearing the smoke for some time now about Mitch Marner's prefered landing spot in free agency being the Vegas Golden Knights. That smoke is turning to fire this afternoon as insider Elliotte Friedman is reporting that Vegas and the Toronto Maple Leafs are working on a sign-and-trade.

Something to keep an eye: on-and-off this week, Toronto and Vegas have been discussing the possibility of a sign-and-trade involving Mitch Marner

Likelihood of it happening: hard to say. But talks have occurred and continue to do so.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) June 28, 2025

Friedman says the two teams have been working away on the plan "on and off" this past week, and adds that middle-six center Nic Roy is likely to be the piece coming back to Toronto if it comes to fruition.

Fellow insider Darren Dreger adds that nothing is likely to get done tonight, and there is "more work ahead."

Brad Treliving on trading Mitch Marner's rights: "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." https://t.co/pfjEewryuq
— luke fox (@lukefoxjukebox) June 28, 2025

"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," said Leafs GM Brad Treliving.

Roy has two years remaining on his five-year deal with a $3 million cap hit. The Knights will need to clear plenty of cap space to be able to sign Marner, who is expected to be commanding a contract in the $12M to $14 million AAV range. Insider David Pagnotta is hearing a four-year deal at $12M AAV as a possibility.

More comes to us from Bruce Garrioch, who is hearing that 6-foot-6 RFA defenseman Nicolas Hague is also a possibility.

There is talk amongst league executives that Leafs have asked for Nicolas Roy and Nicolas Hague in return. It will be interesting to see if this happens. https://t.co/xlMs3jtdls
— Bruce Garrioch (@SunGarrioch) June 28, 2025

Hague is projected to be in line for a two-year, $2.6 million contract.

Vegas currently has $5.6 million in cap room, not enough to add Marner at this point, even if both Roy and Hague were to be heading out... Though that gets them very, very close.

Roy has been a 15-goal, 30-40 point consistent two-way performer down the middle over the last four seasons.

Hague's name has been circulating around the trade circuit this offseason; the big, physical, defensive defenseman had 12 points in 68 games last season, and while his hits and blocked shots were down significantly in 2024-25, he had handed out more than 150 hits the previous season, while blocking well over 100 shots.