"Has he gotten to a point where he thinks, long term, it's just better for him to be somewhere else? He was tentative, he was nervous, during these playoffs, you could see it."
"Marner never really had a moment and now because of where we are in the calendar of his contract, that becomes white hot under the microscope."
"To me the number one question is what does he think? Does any part of him think that it's time?" asked Friedman. "But I do think it's possible that he will think about it. It doesn't mean that he comes right out and tell the Leafs 'Get me out of here' but I do think there will be a Marner collective, as in the people around him, conversation about 'Maybe is it better to go somewhere else?'"
"I don't know if he's gonna say that publicly, it's probably not in his best interest to say that publicly. I do think on some level, especially the people who represent him, you're not doing your job if you at least say 'Mitch would this be better for you?"
"They go could full scorched earth," said Friedman. "They could say 'Not only are we not offering you what you want, but were thinking maybe it's better if we just use the cap room.' And they can say 'If you don't wanna play ball with us that's fine, we can play it out next year, but what that means is you're not gonna get your extension here and you're not gonna get your 8th year.'"
"People are saying there's nothing the Maple Leafs can do and it's not true," added Friedman. "They can force the situation and say 'Look guys, this is what we are going to do, this is how we are going to handle it, and you can decide to work with us now or you can decide to make your decision later."
"I think that's kind of where we are right now."
