Brad Treliving's true thoughts on Mitch Marner leaked

It's going to be one of the bigger offseason storylines that fans can remember, and right now, nobody is really sure which direction it will ultimately take. The saga of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the future of "Core 4" forward Mitch Marner continues to play out, and it's anybody's guess of what will ultimately come of it.

As you know, Marner has one year remaining on his current contract and has expressed a desire to remain a member of the team. Of course, that was during his infamous comparison of himself and his Leafs teammates of being "gods" among the mere other peasants of Toronto.

Not surprisingly after another playoff collapse, Marner has seen his name pop up in several trade rumors, with one potential destination allegedly being the "Utah Hockey Club", which has yet to select an official nickname and new logo.

But if this latest update from NHL Insider Darren Dreger is any indication, it seems as though the preference of Treliving would be to extend Marner rather than deal him away from the only NHL club he's ever suited up for.

Joining TSN's "First Up" podcast, Dreger is hearing from his sources that the Leafs GM has a preference of retaining Marner over a trade:

"From the conversations I've had, Marner wants to play out his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs," he said. "He's got one year left. That doesn't mean he's going to leave after next season. Of course, there's a risk since he'd become a free agent, but Marner negotiated his deal, including the no-move clause, in good faith.

And are we sure Toronto doesn't want to extend Mitch? I think Treliving would rather extend than trade, but those discussions haven't started yet. It's still early days."

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