Zizing ‘Em Up: All eyes on Marner after Rantanen signs with Stars

NHL.com staff writer Mike Zeisberger has been covering the NHL regularly since 1999. Each Monday he will use his extensive network of hockey contacts for his weekly notes column, "Zizing 'Em Up.”

TORONTO -- The free agent spotlight has intensified on Mitch Marner after Mikko Rantanen signed an eight-year contract with the Dallas Stars on Friday.

Probably sooner than the Toronto Maple Leafs forward expected.

Or wanted.

And that goes for Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving too.

The last thing either party desired was Marner’s future becoming a public talking point while Toronto is heading down the stretch battling the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning for first place in the Atlantic Division.

Too late.

Those hopes became moot when reports from both TSN and Sportsnet emerged after the NHL Trade Deadline of 3 p.m. ET Friday suggested Toronto management approached Marner about waiving his no-movement clause in order to facilitate, at least in theory, a potential trade with the Carolina Hurricanes for Rantanen. The Hurricanes had supposedly targeted Marner in any proposed swap with the Maple Leafs, whose plan all along has been to bring him back.

What needs to be emphasized here is that Toronto told Marner at the time that their priority was to re-sign him, not trade him. In the end, Marner, who is eligible to become an unrestricted free agent July 1, rejected the request anyway.

In what should have been a weekend that had Toronto fans buzzing about Trade Deadline acquisitions Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo, the Marner situation became the hot topic, so much so that Treliving had an impromptu meeting with the media Sunday in Salt Lake City to address the issue.

The Maple Leafs play the Utah Hockey Club on Monday (10 p.m. ET; Utah16, SNO, TVAS).

"We're aligned with Mitch," Treliving told reporters. "We're worried about this season. We're worried about the games we have coming up. We want Mitch here for a long time. It's not a distraction.”

Judging by this past weekend, it’s already become just that.

"I support Mitch 1,000 percent," Treliving said. "He's not out here on an island with us.”

Marner insists his focus remains on the ice. But after his two-goal performance in a 7-4 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, the 27-year-old became emotional when asked if he was surprised that Treliving asked him about possibly waiving his no-move.

“I wasn’t focused on it,” he said. “I had a feeling that maybe something might happen.”

He paused.

“But, yeah, I’m here to play hockey with this team, like I said, and I’m focused with this team. And that’s what I can tell you.”

Marner would not answer whether he’d be willing to negotiate another contract with Toronto prior to free agency. Nor would he acknowledge if he sees himself playing here next season, verbally stick-handling around the subject.

“Like I talked to you guys, man, I’m not going to get into any of this contract stuff,” Marner told the scrum. “I’ve been very grateful, and I’ve loved my time being a Leaf. So, I’ll leave it with you guys.

“And we’ve got 20 games left here that aren’t going to be easy. We've got to make sure we just keep our foot down on the gas here and give ourselves the best position to go into playoffs.”

Earlier in his media session, Marner addressed how he’s handling the white noise by saying, “I’m here to play hockey with this team. That’s what I can tell you. I want to be with this team. I want to play with this team.”

But for how long?

Beyond this season?

Consider that while the Maple Leafs want him back, his agent, Darren Ferris, has a reputation of having his clients test free agency when the chance arises. That market should be uber lucrative with Rantanen signed long-term.

Heading into this season, Rantanen and Marner were projected to be the top free agents in July 2025 to be available in years, should they have opted to get to that point. Each was 27 at the time and entering the final season of his contract, Rantanen with the Colorado Avalanche, Marner with the Maple Leafs.

Entering Monday, Rantanen is fourth in the NHL since the start of the 2020-21 season with 440 points (192 goals, 248 assists). Marner is tied for sixth with 427 (132 goals, 295 assists). To have two such elite players in the prime of their careers potentially being on the market for any and all bidders has been virtually unheard of, but Rantanen is no longer in the mix.

Indeed, after a whirlwind six weeks in which he was traded by the Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 24, then dealt to the Stars just hours before the NHL Trade Deadline on Friday, the high-scoring wing signed an eight-year, $96 million contract with Dallas later that day.

In the process, it likely increased Marner’s value.

Think about it. If Marner does not re-sign with the Maple Leafs before the market opens, teams wishing to land a perennial top-10 scorer no longer have multiple options in free agency.

It’s Marner. That’s it. Rantanen isn’t an alternative anymore.

As for the narrative that Rantanen’s average annual value of $12 million with the Stars has established Marner’s price should the latter reach the open market, keep in mind there are no state income taxes in Texas. Marner knows that. More importantly, Ferris knows that. As such, it’s safe to predict that they’ll look for a higher AAV from teams who play in markets that have them, whether it be in the United States or in Canada, with an asking price starting point of $13 million not far-fetched in the least.

As if Marner’s stock wasn’t high enough, it received a boost from his body of work for Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off last month. Performing on a stage that featured some of the world’s best players, he was one of the tournament’s standouts, scoring the overtime goal in a 4-3 win against Sweden, then setting up Connor McDavid for the winner goal in the 3-2 victory against the U.S. in the championship game.

Now here’s a personal take.

Having covered Marner throughout his entire NHL career to date, the feeling here is he’s absorbed an unfair amount of criticism in his time with the Maple Leafs.

That’s an opinion open to debate.

Here are facts that aren’t.

Since entering the NHL in 2016, he ranks eighth in the League with 718 points (215 goals, 503 assists), just six fewer than Sidney Crosby. The seven players ahead of him: McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov, Artemi Panarin, David Pastrnak and Crosby. A legitimate argument can be made all will be in the Hockey Hall of Fame one day.

Over that same span, not only does Marner have the most regular-season points as a Maple Leaf, no Toronto player has more in the Stanley Cup Playoffs than his 50 (11 goals, 39 assists). Sure, he deserves his share of scrutiny for the fact the franchise has won only one postseason series in his career, but why Marner’s often been a disproportioned target of blame from the outside for that lack of success has been head-scratching, considering he’s received more heat than the likes of Auston Matthews, William Nylander and Morgan Rielly, his teammates throughout the run.

Marner’s resume includes being selected to the NHL All-Rookie Team in 2017, the First All-Star Team in 2021 and 2022, and All-Star Game appearances in 2020, 2023 and 2024. He sees time on the power play and penalty kill and was a finalist for the Selke Trophy as the League’s top defensive forward in 2023.

Marner’s also a local kid who grew up in this area dreaming of playing for the Maple Leafs. Yet when he signed a six-year, $65.358 million deal ($10.9 million AAV) on Sept. 19, 2019, he was chastised in certain circles in southern Ontario for not taking a hometown discount, criticism former Calgary Flames GM Craig Button, now an analyst with TSN, considers to be ludicrous.

“Listen, I should start calling him 4-M: ‘Much Maligned Mitch Marner,’” Button said on TSN after Marner’s postgame meeting with the media Saturday. “This guy has been a brilliant player for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s been a First-Team All-Star right wing, Selke Trophy finalist. All he does is perform in every critical area.”

Toronto coach Craig Berube seems to agree, judging by his comments when asked about Treliving’s alleged asking of Marner if the no-movement would be lifted.

“I have no idea about that stuff,” Berube told reporters in Denver. “That is all ‘Tree.’ Mitch is playing. He is here playing for the Leafs. I am glad he is here playing for the Leafs.”

Button said, “I think people should listen to what Berube just said -- 'I’m really happy he’s playing for the Leafs' -- because this player has been so good.

“Even when he signed that (2019) contract, people still (questioned him). I think he’s outperformed that contract. He’s been brilliant under that contract. And certainly now, him being a pending unrestricted free agent, there’s going to be lots of teams interested in him. The Toronto Maple Leafs should be the first team interested in him because I’ll tell you what will happen … you don’t have Mitch Marner, you’ll be looking for a player like Mitch Marner; somebody who drives play in every significant area and is still a young player.

“I don’t get it. I don't get why the Toronto Maple Leafs have to consider not having him, because you’re not going to find many better players available. In fact, you’re not going to find any better players than Mitch Marner.”

There’s the rub.

Will the Maple Leafs be forced to have to look anyway, given the growing expectation Marner will test free agency?

Even though that wouldn’t close the door on a potential contract with Toronto, will the Marner camp consider the Maple Leafs’ asking of him to waive the no-movement an insult?

This much we do know about the saga involving Marner, who is on pace to have a career season with 79 points (21 goals, 58 assists) entering Monday, sixth in the NHL and just two points behind the best player on the planet, McDavid.

Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin’s pursuit of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goal record easily is the biggest story in hockey right now, but Marner’s future might very well be exactly that once the offseason rolls around.

THE RANTANEN TRADE: AN INSIDE LOOK

In the wake of the blockbuster deal between the Hurricanes and Stars involving Rantanen, Dallas general manager Jim Nill and coach Pete DeBoer gave NHL.com an inside look at how the deal transpired from their end.

The Rantanen chronicles started Jan. 24 when he was traded to Carolina by Colorado for forwards Jack Drury and Martin Necas, along with a second-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a fourth-round selection in the 2026 NHL Draft. The Hurricanes also acquired forward Taylor Hall from the Chicago Blackhawks in the three-team deal.

Nill said he didn’t even know Rantanen was available at the time, let alone thought about acquiring him.

“For us, things started transpiring about two weeks ago,” he said. “That’s when people started to get word that he might not sign (with the Hurricanes). That didn’t mean he didn’t want to stay there; it was just that he might not sign. So, that’s when Carolina started reaching out to some teams to see what kind of market there was for him.

“You kind of do your homework, like your [salary] cap situation, what the return in general might be. But nothing serious, at least at that point. You do stuff like that all the time. It’s part of due diligence. You might do it 10 times, and nothing comes of it.”

Nill said talks became more tangible and specific for both parties early last week, although he was far from counting on it to happen.

“I’m not going to go as far as to say I was skeptical,” he said. “But you understand there are other teams involved too. You just know it’s a high-level player, and it’s our job to do the research and see if it’s an actual possibility or not. So, you are excited a bit, but you also know how difficult these things are with all the moving parts involved.

“But I’d say, yes, four or five days before the deadline, it began to take traction. The other team is wondering what you’re willing to give up, so you have to figure that out and figure out what the parameters are. As the week progressed, things got more serious.”

Less than 24 hours before the deadline, Nill said the framework of the trade was finally agreed upon.

“It was late Thursday night,” he said. “Very late Thursday night.”

The details: In return for Rantanen, the Hurricanes would receive rookie forward Logan Stankoven, a conditional first-round pick in 2026, a conditional first-round pick in the 2028 NHL Draft, a third-round pick in 2026 and a third-round selection in the 2027 NHL Draft.

DeBoer knew there had been interest in Rantanen, but there were other names he was aware of too. It was, after all, the Trade Deadline. After 1,242 games as an NHL coach, he’d heard countless potential deals that never came to fruition.

Then, in the wee hours of Friday morning, all that changed.

“Jim called me at 6 a.m. the morning of the Trade Deadline,” DeBoer said. “That was the first time it actually sounded like it could be real. Hey, he’d probably had 100 conversations that it might happen it might not, but this was close enough that he wanted to fill me in.

“The caveat, of course, was that we could get him signed. And that proved to be a little bit of a roller coaster in itself. There was a little dead time there, in fact, where you’re thinking it might not happen.”

Up until Friday, DeBoer said he wasn’t counting on anything happening.“It’s funny, but you kind of train yourself in your own head not to go there until it’s real,” he said. “There’s been too many of those situations where you’re writing down lineups on a napkin, and then it doesn’t happen.

“It’s almost like a shutout -- you don’t want to talk about it until it actually happens because you don’t want to jinx it.”

Nill said he wasn’t fretting as he waited to get word from Rantanen’s camp whether the contract offer was accepted or not.

“Remember, we’re working on other things too,” he said. “There’s a deadline, the clock is ticking. You can’t put all your eggs in one basket. You’re juggling a lot of things, a Plan A, a Plan B, a Plan C, in case things don’t work out.”

DeBoer was on the team charter bound for Edmonton when he heard from Nill that the deal, including the contract, had been completed. Rantanen was under contract with the Stars for the next eight years. Yes, it was finally real.

“When you hear about that, your initial thoughts is how you’re losing a great young player like Stankoven,” DeBoer said. “But the fact that you didn’t lose multiple pieces from your lineup, that’s when you get excited. That’s when we started talking about lineups and power plays and things like that.

“And listen, I’ve seen this guy from the other bench on multiple occasions. In San Jose, I think we played (the Avalanche) twice in the playoffs. In Vegas, I think we played them once or twice, and then in Dallas last year.

“There’s been a lot of nights I was on the other bench going, ‘I’d love to have a guy like that in my lineup.’”

On Saturday, he did. The result: Rantanen had a goal and an assist in his Stars debut, a 5-4 loss to the Oilers.

“I think we’ll keep him,” DeBoer told reporters after the game, tongue planted firmly in cheek.

Nill couldn’t agree more.

QUOTE/UNQUOTE

“I mean, it’s all because of you guys … (chuckles) … Let’s go!!! Here we go! Wow! Unbelievable … Just so thankful. This means more than you guys know.”

-- An emotional Ottawa Senators captain Brady Tkachuk, with the fans at Canadian Tire Centre chanting, “Brady, Brady,” speaking during the postgame in-house interview on the ice after a 4-3 overtime victory against the New York Rangers on Saturday when Ottawa erased a 3-1 deficit in the third period. Tkachuk scored twice, including the winner, one day after one of his best friends, forward Josh Norris, was traded to the Buffalo Sabres as part of the deal that brought forward Dylan Cozens to the Senators.

THE LAST WORD

With the Trade Deadline in the rear view mirror, here are five games to look forward to this month:

Wednesday, March 12: Vancouver Canucks at Calgary Flames (9 p.m. ET; SN)

Entering play Monday, the Flames hold the second wild card in the Western Conference with 70 points, one more than the Canucks.

Sunday, March 16: Dallas Stars at Colorado Avalanche (3:30 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, ALT, SN, TVAS)

The return of Rantanen to Denver.

Saturday, March 22: Vancouver Canucks at New York Rangers (1 p.m. ET; NHLN, MSG, SN)

The first game between these teams since forward J.T. Miller was traded to the Rangers on Jan. 31.

Tuesday, March 25: Ottawa Senators at Buffalo Sabres (7 p.m. ET; MSG-B, TSN5, RDS2)

The first game between the teams since Cozens and defenseman Dennis Gilbert were traded to the Senators by the Sabres on Friday for Norris and defenseman Jacob Bernard-Docker. Ottawa also received a second-round pick in 2026.

Tuesday, March 25, Philadelphia Flyers at Toronto Maple Leafs (7 p.m. ET; TSN4, NBCSP)

Laughton faces the Flyers for the first time since being traded to the Maple Leafs on Friday for forward prospect Nikita Grebenkin and a conditional first-round pick in 2027. Toronto also received a fourth-round pick this year and a sixth-round selection in 2027.