Mitch Marner's Agent Reveals Leafs GM Brad Treliving in Talks With Free Agent Defenseman
Photo credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Darren Ferris, who represents Mitch Marner among others, has been talking with Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving to bring in defenseman Matt Grzelcyk in from free agency.
With the preseason creeping up and the regular season not too far behind, if the Toronto Maple Leafs want to add any last-minute pieces to their crew, they have to act quickly.
They did well for themselves so far, locking up goaltender Dennis Hildeby for the next three years, and ensured that they would have at least a serviceable backup should Anthony Stolarz or Joseph Woll struggle/deal with injuries.
There are still a couple holes for the team to fill, especially regarding their top-six. However one glaring hole as well is their lack of offense on the back end. Besides Morgan Rielly and an aging Oliver Ekman-Larsson, there aren't many options and time is running out.
Brad Treliving Working To Help Morgan Rielly Ahead Of 2025 Season
According to the 100% Podcast, the team may be close to getting help in that regard, and revealed that Brad Treliving has been in contact with ironically, Darren Ferris regarding a potential signing.
NHL Insiders John Shannon and Darren Millard spoke with Ferris recently and the agent explained he was still chatting with the Leafs head honcho in order to get a deal done for a "recent acquisition":
[The relationship is] still cordial. I've known Brad quite a while. He's a good man, and he's got a tough job in front of him. Toronto's not an easy organization to work in with all the noise on the outside, but he seems to weather it. Everything's fine between us.
We were talking about a free agent that I have currently that's still out there, just recently acquired, and we just had a discussion, and we continue to, I mean, it's business as usual.
We were talking about a free agent that I have currently that's still out there, just recently acquired, and we just had a discussion, and we continue to, I mean, it's business as usual.
It doesn't leave much to the imagination, as there are only a select few contracts who are expired that Ferris represents, including Matt Nieto and Andreas Athanasiou who may be a PTO option potentially.
No, the man focus here is free agent defenseman Matt Grzelcyk.
Why Matt Grzelcyk Makes Sense For Toronto
He recently switched from Peter Fish representing him to Ferris in the hopes of getting more money, and with the agent himself declaring that it was a free agent he recently acquired? It's pretty easy to put two and two together.
So why would Toronto think of signing Grzelcyk? Well, for starters he's coming off a fantastic season with the Penguins that included 40 points (1 goal, 39 assists) and 101 blocks; plus he had 15 of his 39 assists on the power play.
He's exactly that power play quarterback Toronto needs, especially with Morgan Rielly questionable in that role. There's a good chance that Grzelcyk could at least play on the PP2 unit and provide a much better alternative to puck moving that Ekman-Larsson.
It might be a bit weird to want to work with Ferris due to his connection with Marner and how that all went down, but this is a business after all, and Toronto can't afford to pass up any opportunity to improve.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 2 | 1307 ANSWERS Mitch Marner's Agent Reveals Leafs GM Brad Treliving in Talks With Free Agent Defenseman Do you think Toronto is going to sign Matt Grzelcyk? | ||
| Yes | 461 | 35.3 % |
| No | 846 | 64.7 % |
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