Do Marner and Tavares still want to be Leafs – and do the Leafs still want them?

May 20, 2025, 14:06 EDT

Credit: Feb 6, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner (16) and forward John Tavares (91) celebrate a goald during the first period against the Seattle Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images

Joseph Woll captured the feeling accurately, a melancholic twinkle in his eye. During the Toronto Maple Leafs’ end-of-season media availability, asked about the possibility of the team looking very different next season, the goaltender said wished he could bring the same team back every year.

He was only half serious. Woll, like every other Leaf, knows they won’t look exactly the same in 2025-26. Not after the manner in which they collectively soiled their sheets during Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs, blowing a 2-0 series lead to the Florida Panthers and dropping Games 5 and 7 by a 12-2 margin at home. Even if it hurts to say goodbye to some teammates who feel like institutions in Toronto, it’s likelier to happen than it ever has been during this era of the team, which began with Auston Matthews’ and Mitch Marner’s rookie seasons in 2016-17 and has yielded nine consecutive playoff berths and multiple 100-point seasons.

In previous offseasons, following major disappointments, the idea of Toronto moving on from core players was easier said than done. Marner populated the rumor mill as a high-profile trade candidate a year ago but controlled his own destiny with a no-movement clause. It came in handy in March of this season when he reportedly blocked a potential trade sending him to the Carolina Hurricanes for Mikko Rantanen. John Tavares was perceived to be slowing down as he reached his 30s, but his $11 million cap hit was prohibitive to trade even if he’d waived his no-movement clause last summer.

This offseason is different. Marner is poised to hit the market as one of the highest-profile UFAs in recent memory. Seven years ago, it was Tavares altering the free agent landscape and signing in Toronto, and now he’s finished his deal, too. So two components of Toronto’s Core Four enter the complete unknown.

Deciding whether to bring back both is a two-way street. First, there’s the question of whether they still want to be Maple Leafs. The answer is clearer with Tavares, 34, who is just wrapping up his “set for life” deal, having made $77 million over the past seven years, and has to weigh prioritizing his family in his home market.

“Everything plays into it,” Tavares said Tuesday. “But you want to make something work, you do everything you can to try to find what works on both sides and what’s fair for myself and my family and for the team. I’ve expressed my desire to stay and want to make it work.”

Marner, who has been much more of a lightning rod during the team’s failures in recent seasons, was less committal in discussing his future, still processing the Game 7 defeat, during which he screamed at his teammates urging them to wake up.

“I haven’t sat down with my wife, I haven’t talked to her about the future, our next steps, and that will be in the next couple of weeks,” Marner said. “We’ll do that and we’ll figure stuff out. But I’m forever grateful [for my time here] and especially with this group.”

So much talk in the day and a half since the loss has revolved around the pressure the Leafs face in the market. They played the third period of their 6-1 humiliation Sunday night with their own fans raining down boos, beers and jerseys. The Panthers’ Brad Marchand, Matthew Tkachuk and even coach Paul Maurice went out of their way to express sympathy for the heat Toronto’s players must overcome and tabled the idea it holds the team back. If Marner, whose tendency to disappear late in series is well documented, takes the most abuse locally, could that drive him out of town?

Maybe, maybe not. He admitted Tuesday the negativity can affect those in his circle but still expressed that it’s more of a pro than a con when the fans care this much.

“You can’t focus on [the hate],” he said. “There’s so much love and appreciation for yourself and from the fans out there. Just because you don’t hear it, it’s still out there. You’ve got love from a lot of people and sometimes the noise you hear is not the one that you want, but that’s how it goes. And yeah, I’m sure my family’s taken it hard, especially being in the crowd for a couple [games], but that’s how this game of hockey goes. And the passion the city brings us something that you appreciate and love about it.”

So if we’re keeping score: Tavares seems likelier to work out a way to stay, while Marner’s feelings are far murkier. Meanwhile, their teammates continue going out of their way to express how much they still want both UFAs to re-sign.

“He’s a brother. He’s such a good teammate, friend,” captain Auston Matthews said of Marner. “We’re extremely close. He’s extremely close with a lot of guys on the team. And he’s a big part of our team and has been a big part of our team. Unfortunately, that’s the nature of the business. People will come and go, and I don’t know, he has the right to make his own decision. But obviously, we all love him very much.”

“He’s the first person I think of when I see that logo,” said left winger Matthew Knies of Tavares. “He took me in, I was a kid, I stayed with him for parts of my first season, and he’s been the most welcoming guy I could have named out of this group. He’s been tremendous. So yeah, it would be challenging to walk in this room without him.”

Even coach Craig Berube said Tuesday he “100 percent” wants to see Marner and Tavares back. But he was also quick to distance himself from any notion of being a decision maker or expressing thoughts on what the team needs. He deferred to GM Brad Treliving, who didn’t speak Tuesday but should theoretically do so later this week.

Particularly with team president Brendan Shanahan’s status up in the air as his own contract expires, it will be up to Treliving to decide whether the Leafs are better off with or without Marner and Tavares.

Marner, 28, is fresh off a career high 102 points. Only six players league-wide have more points across the past five seasons, and only Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon have more assists. Marner has produced at that level while mixing in a stellar two-way game; he leads the league in takeaways over the past five seasons, plays in all situations and has finished as a Selke Trophy finalist once. Particularly since future Hall of Famer Rantanen is off the market, having signed long-term with the Dallas Stars, there’s no player close to Marner’s skill level available this summer. He’s still in his prime and clearly fuels much of Toronto’s regular-season success.

The other side of that equation: In Games 5, 6 and 7 of a playoff series since Tavares joined and forged the Core Four era in 2018-19, Marner has no goals and seven assists across 20 games. Even though he contributes at both ends of the ice and, as teammate Max Pacioretty said Tuesday, shouldn’t be judged on only one thing, it’s staggering for a 102-point player to vanish the way Marner has when the checking gets tighter in high-stakes games. If the Leafs are tired of only succeeding in the regular season, Treliving will have to weigh whether to prioritize the endgame and spend the Leafs’ cap space on veterans who will help the team go deeper in the playoffs even if they won’t keep the team competitive for as long as Marner will.

As for Tavares: he showed he can still play this season. His 38 goals were his second most in a Leaf jersey. He was one of the best goal scorers in the NHL after the 4 Nations Face-Off break, a high-danger chance machine at the net front. He has just nine points in 20 games across the past two postseasons, also guilty of shrinking when the games matter most. But the investment to keep him wouldn’t be nearly as significant as keeping Marner in term or AAV, so there still could be a price point at which retaining Tavares makes sense.

If the Leafs decide it’s time to end the Core Four era altogether, what will Treliving’s shopping list prioritize? The reactionary move, which would be justifiable, would be to search for the junkyard dogs in the vein of Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand. And Leaf fans might be just broken enough to buy into the idea of sacrificing the future to finally break through in the present.

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POST SPONSORED BY bet365

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Do Marner and Tavares still want to be Leafs – and do the Leafs still want them?

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