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TSN Toronto Maple Leafs Reporter

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TORONTO – Nine days before the official opening of NHL training camps, more than a dozen Maple Leafs’ regulars marked the unofficial end of summer at the team’s informal skates on Tuesday.

While unsigned restricted free agent Mitch Marner wasn’t among them, his presence – or lack thereof – loomed over those eager to see his situation resolved.

“We want Mitch here. We want him to be a part of camp. We want him to be involved,” said Morgan Rielly at the Leafs’ practice facility. “But he’s doing what he thinks he has to do, and it is what it is. All we can do is just worry about training camp. We all have confidence that he’s going to be here at some point, but for now we’re just going to work hard to get ready.”

It’s been more than four months since Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas declared that the completion of a new Marner deal was the team’s “top priority” heading into another long off-season.

To that end, Dubas has maintained a constant dialogue with Marner’s agent Darren Ferris throughout the summer, including conversations late last month that TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reported as “productive,” but Toronto’s top point-getter the last two seasons remains on the outside looking in.

Rielly said he’s spoken with Marner “a little bit” since Toronto was ousted from the postseason, but kept their interactions light.

“You just want to support him, just let him know you’re there,” Rielly said. “[See if] he has any questions. It’s more or less just a friendship, talking and catching up; it’s not really about business all the time.”

Like many of his teammates, Rielly is an old pro at fielding questions about an RFA stalemate. This time last year, it was William Nylander on his way to not being signed by the start of training camp. The impasse between player and team lasted until minutes before the Dec. 1 deadline, when they agreed on a six-year, $45 million pact.

Missing all of camp and then two months of the season significantly impacted Nylander and he spent the rest of the season shuffling between linemates en route to a 27-point showing in 54 outings. The Leafs could face a similar outcome with Marner should a deal not be reached quickly.

“I think it’s different every time,” Rielly said of parallels between the two wingers' situations. “But [Marner’s] not the only guy doing it. All we can really worry about is getting ready for camp and being prepared.”

Marner is one of a number of prominent RFAs yet to come to terms on a new contract, a list that includes Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor, Mikko Rantanen, Brayden Point, Brock Boeser and Charlie McAvoy. Not unlike those other players, Marner, 22, has been a backbone to his team's success recently, posting 163 points (48 goals, 115 assists) in 164 games for Toronto since the start of the 2017 season.

“I don't care what all those other guys are doing. I care about Mitch," shrugged Rielly. "He’s a teammate and we want him to get that done and there’s confidence that he will,” Rielly said. “But it’s interesting that this [lack of signings] is happening because it hasn’t happened like this in the past. But it’s not anything that I can control or anyone else can.”

Seeing Marner's negotiations stretch into September (and possibly beyond) though has been a much less shocking development for most than the fact that Jake Gardiner remains unsigned. The unrestricted free agent defenceman projected to be a hot commodity on the open market when free agency began in July, but after spending the entirety of his eight-year career thus far with the Leafs, he hasn’t found a new home.

“[I’m] pretty surprised,” admitted Rielly, who was not only Gardiner’s roommate in Toronto for years but also a groomsman at his wedding last summer. “It’s not the way I saw it unfolding, but it is what it is. I’m sure he’ll get something done. But that’s all I have. I don’t have any information. You just want the best for him.”

Dubas didn't shut the door completely on Gardiner possibly rejoining the Leafs when he spoke with TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie on Tuesday. But given the team's limited cap space is mostly allocated for Marner, a reunion may not make sense.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a zero per cent chance,” Dubas said. “And I don’t mean to put this on anything else, but until we have a solution to the situation with Mitch...I think at that point we would go back to Pat [Brisson, Gardiner's agent] and Jake and say, perhaps, here’s what we have. And it may be enticing, it may not be.”

As it is, Rielly has several new teammates to get acquainted with on the blueline. He was paired with newcomer Cody Ceci at Tuesday’s skate, who was traded from Ottawa for Nikita Zaitsev on July 1. Tyson Barrie, acquired via trade from Colorado for Nazem Kadri that same day, skated with Jake Muzzin.

Rielly and Ceci have played together before, for Team Canada at the U-18 in 2011, and the Leafs’ veteran is hoping the next few days leading up to training camp gives the entire new-look defence a chance to start gelling.

“It’s exciting to see new faces,” Rielly said. “We have a lot of confidence in the group that we have and having new faces is good. There’s a good energy and guys are excited. We’re looking forward to it.”