Mitch Marner's teammates provide big clue about where he will sign next.

One of the biggest questions of the summer, and perhaps even the biggest, will surround Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Mitch Marner and where he will land as an unrestricted free agent. Plenty of team names have been tossed around including those of Atlantic Division rivals the Florida Panthers and Boston Bruins, but those names now seem unlikelier than ever.

A recent update on the Marner file now indicates that the talented forward will be looking to move himself as far away from his current situation as possible, with Marner's own teammates seemingly of one mind as far as his future is concerned.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman was recently asked about the interest shown by the Carolina Hurricanes and, while he did admit that he expects the Hurricanes are extremely interested in acquiring Marner, he also provided a reason why he thinks the Hurricanes are a long shot on this one.

"I know some of his teammates have suspected, Leafs teammates have suspected, that Marner is going to go West," said Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast.

Many of us have suspected for years that the pressures of the Toronto hockey market have had a negative impact on Marner, both on and off the ice, and remaining in the Eastern Conference would mean that he would still have to face the Maple Leafs several times each season. Combine that with the fact that he would be even more heavily scrutinized in the city of Toronto if he were playing for a divisional rival and you can start to see why the Western Conference may be more appealing for Marner.

Friedman indicated during his comments that Marner simply wants to start over fresh somewhere else.

"A clean break from it all, yes," confirmed Friedman.

I suspect this news will be received positively in Toronto as the prospect of Marner being out of sight and out of mind is far more appealing than the prospect of him potentially haunting your team for years to come as a member of a divisional rival. There may even be a segment of the Maple Leafs fan base that will simply be happy that the entire circus around Marner will finally come to an end.