Insider clears the air on Mitch Marner trade rumours in Toronto

Yesterday, the Nashville Predators sent Ryan McDonagh back to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a pair of draft picks. The trade freed up $6.75M in cap space, giving the Predators more than $20M to spend this off-season.

Given the previous reports that they have called the Leafs and GM Brad Treliving inquiring about Marner, many believe that the McDonagh trade is a precursor to a much bigger move.

When asked about the Marner rumours following the trading of McDonagh, Predators GM Barry Trotz, had quite the response.

TSN's Pierre LeBrun then revealed that as of last night, the Leafs have held no conversations surrounding a Marner trade as they had been focused on hiring a coach to replace Sheldon Keefe.

Just because the Leafs aren't discussing a Marner deal right now doesn't mean it won't happen. LeBrun also stated that there will be teams calling about Marner's availability closer to the draft, which means we could be in for a blockbuster of a trade during the draft.

A trade with the Predators could help the Leafs solidify their goaltending as the Preds had previously thought about moving Juuse Saros, who has one year left on his current deal, similar to Marner.