Maple Leafs solidify defenseman group, goaltending at start of free agency | NHL.com

While acknowledging the newcomers both fill needed roles and are “tremendous people,” the GM was quick to point out that the season does not start until October.

“I’m happy with what transpired today but it’s only Day 1,” Treliving said. “So we’ll continue to chip away.”

In the process, the biggest question remains: What is Mitch Marner’s future?

The 27-year-old has been made the scapegoat for repeated postseason shortcomings by Maple Leafs supporters who feel he should be traded in a perceived much-needed shakeup of the team’s highly publicized core, which also includes forwards Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares and defenseman Morgan Rielly. With Matthews and Nylander locked up long term last season, Marner would seem to be the top candidate to be moved since his contract is up at the end of the 2024-25 season.

Consider that almost half of Toronto’s NHL salary cap space is dedicated to four forwards — Matthews ($11.6 million average annual value), Tavares ($11 million AAV), Marner ($10.9 million AAV) and Nylander ($6.9 million AAV) — who are relied upon to score goals. Matthews’ AAV rises to $13.25 million next season, Nylander’s to $11.5 million.

Here’s the problem with trading Marner: how do you get anything near equal value back for a skilled offensive player who has 639 points (194 goals, 445 assists) in 576 regular season games, an average of 1.11 points per outing?

The Maple Leafs have Matthews under contract for another four seasons. That’s the window of opportunity they must exploit. They are likely a more skilled team this season with Marner on the team than without, especially if they can’t get an equitable win-now return.

He also has a no-movement clause, so he holds the hammer in terms of whether he stays or goes. And if he opts to test free agency next summer, it will open up almost $11 million in cap space for a crop of potential unrestricted free agents in 2025 that could include forwards Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

For his part, Treliving remains coy about Marner’s future.

“I’m not going to do play-by-play,” he said, responding to queries about Marner’s status with the organization. “Mitch is a great player. We’re lucky to have him.

“Like I said, I know there’s lots going on, lots of stories around it.”

Perhaps in an effort to curtail the scuttlebutt, Treliving referenced comments made by incoming no-nonsense coach Craig Berube at the NHL Draft at Sphere in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Quizzed about a meeting he had with Marner at a Toronto-area coffee shop several weeks ago, Berube replied: “A character guy, a great person, a great player, and I am looking forward to coaching him.”

And, in the process, finding a way to get he, Tavares, Matthews, Nylander and Rielly more productive at playoff time.

Otherwise, as improved as Toronto’s defense seems to be, this will still be a team that struggles every spring.