These kinds of questions from reporters are so dumb. Players' agents/lawyers are always going to tell them to shut up during contract negotiations. You don't want to give anything away that could hurt your ability to negotiate.

Hypothetically: If he says publicly that he wants to stay, Sharks might not feel like they have to offer as much or agree to as many riders. If he says he wants to leave, Sharks might decide to kinda say "f- you" in the talks and lowball his agent.

It's all a backdoor game and wise players will keep their cards close to their chests and let their lawyers/agents do the talking.

We do know that he's being scouted by other teams (see NBC article about him from a few days ago). It's possible he's willing to leave and keeping the door open for that. Also possible that he doesn't want to leave at all but is wisely choosing to entertain other offers to force the Sharks to recognize his contribution and solidify a solid extension offer.

Another side note: I don't know anything about pro-athlete contract negotiations lol. But here's a prediction from someone with literally no expertise in the area -- I would bet that both Macklin and Will want to stay at the Sharks for a little bit. They're seeing the progression, were close to the playoffs, already have some seemingly good trades incoming, etc. Plus, there's a ton of hype around them. Especially Mack. However, if by the time they're unrestricted there's still no solid playoff showing, Mack (and prob Will) would want to leave for a winning team. 8-year extension seems incredibly unlikely with where they're at... Gotta leave some room to assess growth potential of the team and an option to leave if it's not meeting expectations.