from Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun,

Newcomers Cody Ceci and Alex Kerfoot are under contract for the Maple Leafs, but the club still requires some financial finagling if and when Mitch Marner signs.

According to the site Cap Friendly, the one-year deal for Ceci at $4.5 million and the AAV of $3.5 million for each of Kerfoot’s four years, both announced Thursday, gives the Leafs just $3.765 million in room for Marner. But still to be taken off the books closer to the start of the season is the injured Nathan Horton’s money, which gets the Leafs north of $9 million to put towards Marner’s wish to receive Auston Matthews’ money in the $11.634 million range.

The Leafs also have to find roster spots for Marner and the idled Horton, but moving the injured Zach Hyman and Travis Dermott to IR at the beginning would be a temporary solution if no other personnel moves come this summer.

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from Emily Sadler of Sportsnet,

While things have quieted down on the free agency front, the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager still has plenty of work to do in order to lock up one of the league’s best young stars. Dubas provided an update on where things stand in the ongoing negotiations with RFA Mitch Marner during an interview on Tim & Sid on Thursday:

“We continue to have good dialogue daily with Mitch’s representative, Darren Ferris, and we continue to try to work hard towards it,” Dubas said. “I’ll try to get as creative as we possibly can to try to get it across the finish line.”

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