NHL analyst reckons Maple Leafs' 'calculated risk' of not trading Mitch Marner before free agency may have undesired outcome

While the Toronto Maple Leafs aim to win Game 7 at home against the Florida Panthers after a 2-0 shutout victory on Friday, it remains unclear whether Mitch Marner, whose six-year $65,418,000 deal expires this season, would re-sign with the team. His playoff flaws have raised more concerns, and some believe the organization should have traded him for some assets.

Marner rejuvenated himself with the assist on Auston Matthews' goal in the third period, with the scores still level. In nine years with the club, the winger has 13 goals and 50 assists in the playoffs, but the lack of team success has been telling not just for him but others in the Core Four. Thus, with his contract about to expire, questions about his new contract were inevitable.

On Friday, NHL analyst Nick Kypreos on the "Donnie and Dhali" podcast said the Leafs missed the trick by not trading Marner before the trade deadline. According to Kypreos, the Leafs' management should have discussed waiving his no-move clause if he does not sign with the team, which is still in the works.

"Oh, without a doubt," the analyst said. "I would never have let it get to this point. And of course, everybody says, well, he has no move. And it's like, yes, so what. I still would have told him back in the summer that if you're not planning on signing during the season, please give me a list of teams that you will go to and negotiate.

"And we want to sign you, let's make no mistake about it, our first priority is to sign you. But if, in fact, you've already made your decision, please give me a handful of teams that I can go talk to.

"And to have a guy in his prime like that walk out the door for nothing, I think was a calculated risk that looks like it's not going to turn out very well for the organization."

Mitch Marner makes his feelings known about blocking outside noise

According to Mitch Marner, despite criticism following their 6-1 loss in Game 5, the Leafs were able to keep their cool. He reiterated their unwavering determination to do better.

“ Like we’ve talked about all year, we don’t care. We just go out there and we wanna do our thing,” Marner said. “What we love about this team is there’s a lot of trust in that locker room with one another. It was a great morning skate, and it carried into the game.

"We knew it wasn’t gonna be easy, we knew we weren’t gonna get many looks. The thing we just loved about it was staying patient with our game, a couple of big kills to start off, too. Just stuck with it and got the result.”

It remains to be seen if Marner and the Leafs can battle off adversity and win Game 7.