TSN: Frank Corrado when asked what the Toronto Maple Leafs plan be for Mitch Marner.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“Everyone has an opinion on this. What should the Leafs do with Mitch Marner? What should be the right plan?
You have to take a look at what the Leafs have done here after July 1, on July 1, how different this team actually looks. So let’s look at the facts. They’ve revamped their blue line. They spent money to bring in (Chris) Tanev, (Oliver) Ekman-Larson, (Jani) Hakanpaa. Timothy Liljegren is back in the mix.
So if you were going to make a move for Mitch Marner and you thought there was a defenseman coming back, chances are that might not be the case because they spent money to revamp the blue line.
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Now, upfront, the team looks relatively the same. No Tyler Bertuzzi, but you could make the case that Bobby McMann is going to slide into that role. Where I think things kind of go down the path here for Mitch Marner and the Leafs, is that the Leafs kind of owe it to Craig Berube to see what he can do with Mitch Marner. To see what he can do with this core four. To see if a new coach, a new style come playoff time, can he find ways to get a little more offense out of this group?
You know, you could say that you have to make the trade and you have to move on because things haven’t worked in the playoffs. But last year was the new general manager, he tried to do what he could to work around the edges of this group. Now there’s a new head coach, you owe it to that head coach to see what he can do with that group while you work around the edges again.
And with the way the Leafs look now, with the revamped blue line, it may be a better team, a stronger team than last year. The only thing is everyone else in the Atlantic is just as good as they were last year, so it might not move the needle as much.
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But Mitch Marner with everything that has changed for the Leafs, the revamped blue line and the fact that nothing has happened so far, and the no-movement clause, might be better suited to bring him back and see what Craig Berube can do with that group of the core four and Mitch Marner.”
