Brad Treliving comments on Mitch Marner trade rumor.

What should have been a relatively quiet National Hockey League Entry Draft for the Toronto Maple Leafs proved to be anything but, with perhaps the biggest trade rumor of the summer dropping on Day 2 of the draft on Saturday.

On Saturday, news broke that the Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights were working on a trade that would send Mitch Marner to the Golden Knights, with more than one Golden Knights player rumored as the possible return.

The initial report was quickly echoed by insiders around the league, pointing to the fact that there is a high probability of a deal getting done here.

It would be a huge coup for Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving to get any kind of a return in a trade here with Marner just days removed from the possibility of him walking away for nothing in free agency, a fact that Treliving himself is aware of.

"You'd always like to get something, right?" admitted the Maple Leafs GM. "That's not always the case. That's probably as far as I want to get into it, but we'll see how things go."

A return here would not only reflect favorably on Treliving and the work he has done as general manager of the Maple Leafs, but it could also help soften some of the negativity that has been directed at Marner himself in recent weeks. Marner waiving his no movement clause to allow the Maple Leafs to get a return in a trade, even if he only does so for selfish reasons, is likely to leave fans with a much better taste in their mouths than if he were to simply walk away and leave the Maple Leafs with nothing to show for it.