Mitch Marner's agent appears to be negotiating through the media again

On Monday Morning, TSN's Darren Dreger joined the TSN 1050 "First Up" crew to discuss a variety of topics, one of which was the Mitch Marner situation in Toronto.

Rumours have been swirling about Marner's potential availability for all of May and most of June so far, but Dreger suggested that we could yet see Marner extended by Leafs after all. The question is, does Darren Dreger think that, or is he being fed his information strategically by Darren Ferris?

During their last set of contract negotiations, Ferris was believed to have hand-fed the media information in hopes of securing the best deal possible for his client. As many of you may recall, rumours of a potential offer sheet from a team like the Columbus Blue Jackets were very much out there and some suspect that Ferris had planted that story in the media to put pressure on the Maple Leafs.

This time around, it's nothing like that, but it could certainly make sense for Ferris to be in contact with high-ranking members of the Toronto media to help create the narrative that Marner has zero intentions of waiving his no-movement clause and wants an extension. In a way, if those stories are out there, it could potentially impact how Leafs GM Brad Treliving approaches his offseason.

Now, instead of planning for life without Mitch Marner, Treliving may be under more pressure to get him signed to avoid losing him for nothing next summer.

The 2024 NHL Entry Draft is now less than 2 weeks away, and we are officially 2 weeks out from free agency, so it would make sense for these sorts of tidbits to get out there now if Ferris was attempting to do some posturing for his client.

Source: Darren Dreger, per Maple Leafs Daily
Insider presents a new theory on Maple Leafs winger Mitch Marner