Erin Lites
Mitch Marner will be a Toronto Maple Leaf for a very long time. Back in February after his agent said the winger was being lowballed, he also said as much.
There are so many stories going around about this contract. This is all Leafs fans can talk about. This is all the media can talk about. Even now with rumours around Kadri, Marleau and Zaitsev’s departures it all ties back to the Marner deal. Like William Nylander, Marner has almost become a villain. We’re pointing fingers at him, his father and his agent, Darren Ferris. We’re calling them greedy, brushing off Marner’s talent and calling ourselves General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. And God forbid fans can accept that a 22-year-old kid wants to leave everything up to his agent and parents.
Excuse me, but I’m only a couple months older than he is and I have a hard time scheduling my doctor appointments. We saw it last season: Nylander took a long time to return to the team with a deal. During that time, fans assumed the worst of him, of Dubas and the media stirred up stories about other teams. What ended up happening? He signed and hit the ice days later.
Basically, everyone needs to take a breath. The fans can stop antagonizing Marner and Ferris and the media can stop digging for views and stirring up controversy with the words “offer sheet.” Mitch Marner will be a Toronto Maple Leaf for a very long time. His “greedy” agent said it himself.