Mitch Marner and the Leafs still have no resolution to his future

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As training camp draws near, Mitch Marner and the Maple Leafs continue to remain quiet about his future, leading to speculation a resolution could be on the horizon.

Last season, William Nylander went all the way through training camp and entered the start of the season without a contract extension. After starting the season with a 17-game point streak and posting 48 points in the Leafs’ first 34 games, he and the Leafs ultimately settled on an 8-year extension that kicks in this season and carries a cap hit of $11.5M.

On TSN’s “OverDrive” on Monday, Insider Chris Johnston was asked about the perfect time to extend Marner given all of the heat around him in recent months. After Bryan Hayes posed the idea of October or November being the ideal time to announce an extension, Johnston agreed for the simple fact that the Leafs do not want to lose Marner for nothing.

“It could be,” said Johnston. “I don’t know when the perfect time is. The perfect time would be after you win a Stanley Cup next June and you make that announcement. But there would be concern about losing the player for nothing — that’s kind of where they got to last year with Nylander.”

While fans have wanted to see the Leafs break up the core for a few seasons now, they will most likely have to deal with them for at least one more season. However, based on CJ’s comments, the Leafs would prefer to have a resolution to Marner’s future sooner than later.

As we inch closer to training camp, the two sides will have to figure out the best way to get ahead of the expected questions Marner will face when he meets with the media for the first time next month. Should Marner start the season the same way Nylander did, it would seem more likely the Leafs would be willing to sign him to an extension.