

TORONTO — In an end-of-season news conference Thursday, Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving acknowledged the team failed to reach its goals and that “there’s some DNA that has to change.”
Treliving said the team is still determining its path as it relates to Mitch Marner — potentially the most highly touted unrestricted free agent the NHL has seen in years. Treliving declined to comment on whether the team would offer a contract to Marner or John Tavares, who is also eligible to become a UFA on July 1.
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“I think Mitch is a tremendous player. I think he’s a star. We’re in that process right now,” Treliving said of talks with the Leafs’ superstar winger and leading scorer in 2024-25.
“Mitch and I had a discussion. It’s emotional right now,” he said, later clarifying that exit meetings after a playoff loss are emotional for all involved and that his comments were not specific to Marner.
“You’ve got to get composed, you’ve got to think clearly and then start going through that process,” he said. He added he would be in touch with Marner’s representative to determine what’s best, and that “Mitch has a say in this as well.”
Speaking about his future at locker cleanout day earlier this month, Marner spoke about the Leafs, and his nine years playing at home in Toronto, in the past tense.
“I’ve always loved my time here. I’ve loved being here,” he said.
At no point did he express his desire to stay.
Speaking more broadly about the roster on Thursday, Treliving said he believed that change would be necessary.
Treliving’s comments on Marner were highly anticipated. Coach Craig Berube and 10 Leafs players conducted their year-end media availabilities almost immediately in the wake of their second-round exit. MLSE President and CEO Keith Pelley then spoke five days after the Leafs’ final game to address former Leafs president Brendan Shanahan’s departure from the organization. Treliving was in Calgary to attend his daughter’s graduation.
Marner declined to discuss an extension with the Leafs this past season. That led to an attempt by Treliving’s front office to facilitate a trade at the March 7 deadline that would have sent Marner to Carolina in exchange for Mikko Rantanen.
Marner declined to waive his no-movement clause and the trade was scuttled.
Treliving stepped in front of the microphones in an abrupt media availability on March 9.
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“We want Mitch here for a long time,” Treliving said at the time.
“I’m here to just play hockey,” Marner said in March when asked about extension talks. “It’s a business out there. I know what’s going on. I’m just here to play hockey. I’m here to enjoy everything and go through the ups and downs with these guys, and just take it day by day and try to help us win games.”
Marner led the Leafs with a career-high 102 points during the regular season. He joined Auston Matthews, Doug Gilmour, and Darryl Sittler as only the fourth player in franchise history to register 100 points in a season.
Marner went on to post 13 points in 13 playoff games this past spring, but scored only two goals and failed to produce in the latter part of the second round against Florida. He had only one point, an assist, in the final four games, three of them losses for the Leafs.
Marner’s Leafs tenure, if this is indeed the end, will be defined in part by the postseason disappointments, both for the team and for Marner personally.
The Leafs have won only two rounds during his time in Toronto and Marner produced 63 points in 70 playoff games.
Marner was consistently terrific in the regular season. He was named the top right winger in the NHL at the end of the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons and was a Selke Trophy finalist in 2022-23.
He is among the most talented players in Leafs history, with the fifth-most points (741) and the fourth-most assists (520).
(Photo: Richard A. Whittaker / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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