Golden Knights minimize Mitch Marner trade to avoid serious consequences

On Tuesday morning right before the free-agent market opened in the NHL, former Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Mitch Marner officially became a member of the Vegas Golden Knights in a sign and trade. Toronto moved Marner to Vegas in exchange for forward Nicolas Roy. As part of the deal, Marner then signed an eight-year, $96 million contract that will keep him in Vegas through the 2032-33 season.

As soon as reports hinted earlier this week that Marner was going to become a Golden Knight, rumours of tampering quickly emerged when insider Elliotte Friedman shared the news that the NHL was looking into the transaction.

“People aren’t going to be happy with this but I’m going to say it anyways,” said Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast . “There’s been some talk that if Marner goes to Vegas, the Maple Leafs will go after Vegas for tampering.”

It’s important to mention that Friedman said he has no evidence that there has been tampering in this situation, but when the sign and trade announcement was made official yesterday and Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon met with reporters, he made sure to offer his side of the story when it comes to gettign Marner to Sin City.

Per Chris Johnston, McCrimmon explained how the Golden Knights have had trade discussions with the Maple Leafs on Mitch Marner going well back, including at the trade deadline when Toronto initiated those talks trying to strike a three-way deal that would have landed Marner in Vegas.

The GM also mentioned how Marner got some information about Vegas when speaking with Maple Leafs’ teammates Max Pacioretty and Ryan Reaves, who both previously spent time with the organization.

For now, nothing more was said about tampering accusations, though we could understand how McCrimmon would be looking to minimize the Marner transaction.

If the league eventually takes action against the Golden Knights for tampering, they could face the following sanctions:

* Up to a $5-million fine

* Termination of any contracts that were signed

* Forfeiture of draft picks

* Awarding draft picks or cash to the offended club

As for Marner, he too could get fined up to $1 million, as well as potential suspension or worse.

At the end of 2024, it was reported that the NHL sent out a memo about the consequences of being caught tampering and has remained on high alert since.