Key details on Mitch Marner's future with Leafs leaked

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner has been known as one of the team's "Core 4" players alongside Auston Matthews, John Tavares and William Nylander, and they've formed one of the top foundational identities in the NHL despite having not enjoyed sustained postseason success.

Both Matthews and Nylander have recently been re-signed to new contracts, while Tavares is coming up on the final year of his deal next season. Additionally, Marner is also set to enter the final year of his current deal next season, and there is plenty of speculation as to what Leafs general manager Brad Treliving will do in terms of the future of both players, especially given the restraints of the salary cap.

During the most recent "32 Thoughts: The Podcast", NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman stated that it was his belief that the "goal" for the Leafs is to keep Marner around so that he can continue to play with Matthews.

"I do think it's their goal to keep Marner," he said. "I don't have any doubt. I think they know Marner and Matthews want to play with each other. I believe that's been a conversation in the past, where Matthews has made it very clear that he wants to play with Marner and Marner has made it clear that he's happy to do it and, look, at the end of he day, there's still going to be a negotiation. We'll see where that goes and we're going to punt that to the summer, because they're not going to do that now, but I absolutely believe their long-distance plan is to keep them together for a long time."

Right now, Marner hasn't been able to play since he suffered a high ankle sprain in a March 7 game against the Bruins, but the hope is that he'll be able to return at some point before the postseason.

Does this mean that Tavares could potentially be a salary cap casualty for the Leafs?

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