Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving breaks his silence on the Mitch Marner situation

After the Maple Leafs were eliminated from the first round of the playoffs, almost everyone in the media turned their attention to the failed core and pointed the finger directly at Marner. However, it's not like it came out of nowhere after he had a disastrous post-season. Now, with just one year remaining on his contract the proverbial clock was ticking.

From that moment on and spanning the entire post-season, rumours have been spreading like wildfire about what the Maple Leafs should or should not do with Marner. At times it seemed like a trade was imminent, other times it was being reported that he would play out his contract, but recently things have quelled with the playoffs coming to a close and all 32 teams focusing their attention towards the draft and free agency.

The Leafs also have some other big fish to fry right now outside of Marner. Whether that has to do with extensions on Tyler Bertuzzi, Max Domi, or Timothy Liljegren, trying to address their goaltending after failing to acquire Jacob Markstrom, or bolstering the back end with top-4 options in Chris Tanev, Matt Roy and Nikita Zadorov at the top of their list, it's hectic times for all involved.

Nevertheless, Treliving understands that Marner will occupy a large portion of off-season conversations but declined to address any of the speculation regarding his star.

Asked about the trade rumours and even the recent report of Marner being sent to Utah, Treliving said he didn't see the report and while more reports will be on their way, you can't get wrapped up around them at this time of the year.

With the buyout window opening shortly, the NHL Entry Draft taking centre stage on Friday, and the free agent frenzy occupying its usual Canada Day time slot, Treliving and company have a lot on their plate that doesn't involve Marner trade rumours. He still considers him to be a major player for the organization and with his full NMC in place, it's going to make things a lot more complicated this summer.