NHL Insider Sheds Light on Nixed Trade Involving Mitch Marner and $51,975,000 Golden Knights Star

The Mitch Marner sweepstakes are officially set to begin on the first day of July, which is just over a month away.

The Toronto Maple Leafs forward is set to become one of the most notable free agent forwards in some time, and he may ultimately decide that playing under the bright lights and the intense media microscope of Toronto is no longer right for him.

But where is the best fit for him? What are the chances that he could choose to roll the dice and sign with the Vegas Golden Knights, who are never shy about pursuing the top names in the game today?

Was Mitch Marner Almost Traded by the Maple Leafs?

While it’s a possibility that Marner could sign with the Golden Knights, they reportedly wanted to acquire him in recent months according to a new explosive report from NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman.

“I do believe, on some level, last year, that the Maple Leafs and Vegas talked about a trade,” he said. “And this was last summer. At some point, I think Vegas was interested in Marner. I think Toronto talked to them.

“Nobody has ever confirmed it, and I think there were two reasons it never even got close. And number one was that I think Toronto was interested in Shea Theodore. And as the Golden Knights proved, they were not interested in trading him. They wanted to keep him.”

“As I heard, they told people, ‘You want to watch Shea Theodore, you’re going to watch him. You can buy a ticket to watch him play for us.’ And they followed through on their word.

“And the second thing is, I just think there was no guarantee that Marner at that time was going to be agreeing to anything. So while I do think the two teams talked about it and Vegas had some interest, I don’t think it was ever, ever realistic because of those two reasons.”

Theodore has been an anchor on the Vegas blue line since their inception ahead of the 2017-18 season and is known as one of the few remaining original Misfit players that shocked the entire sports world and advanced to the Stanley Cup Final in their first campaign.

They have no intention of letting him go anywhere, having recently gotten him extended to the tune of a $51.975 million contract that runs through the 2031-32 season; while he was limited to only 67 games this past season for Vegas, he managed to reach a new high in scoring with seven goals with 50 assists for 57 points.