Toronto Maple Leafs: Hey Mitch Marner, Show Some Class Buddy!

The Toronto Maple Leafs number one priority this summer is to sign restricted free-agent Mitch Marner.

Unfortunately, the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans may have to come to terms with the fact that their beloved hometown hero is a selfish, money-grubbing mercenary.

If he isn’t, then he needs to get his agent and his father under control.

Because this is getting embarrassing.

Maybe Mitch Marner isn’t a selfish, me-first player who only cares about himself.  But if that is the case, then he needs to wrestle this narrative away from his agent and his dad, because he is coming off terribly.

Mitch Marner Needs to be Bettter

A player and his agent are free to ask for as much money as they want.

In fact, I always cheer for the player and not the team when it comes to contact negotiations.

When William Nylander held out, I didn’t rip him. I respected his right to try and get paid for his talents. 

And I respect Mitch Marner’s rights to do the same, but the way he’s going about it is absolutely sickening.

You do not meet with other teams.  Not unless you’re ripping off the Marner nameplate and replacing it with one that says Judas.

Marner is the home-grown superstar this town has always wanted. He can be the King of this city.  You see what this city has done for Kawhi Leonard – adopted him and made him into their biggest hero ever – and imagine what it will do for Marner when the Leafs eventually win.

He can get the adoration he wants, but if he chooses not to earn it, but rather extort it artificially in the form of money, then he is lost.

Marner has the personality, the looks, and the skills to be great. But instead of earning that, he seems set on blackmailing his way into it.

Look dude, you want to be as respected and valued as Auston Matthews? That’s nice, earn it.

They named a leadership award after Mark Messier.  I don’t remember him ever whining that he wasn’t as respected as Gretzky.  He obviously knew that while he was a hall of fame caliber player, that he wasn’t Wayne Gretzky.

Live with it.  Marner will never be as good as Matthews.  That is just not possible.  There’s no shame in that though.  People know they’re not going to be as good as the Beatles, they still put out records.

Mitch Marner might have the right to meet with other teams, but to actually do it?  It is a sickeningly greedy move.

How am I supposed to tell my son that Mitch Marner is no longer a Leaf because he couldn’t live on more money per  year than everyone you’ve ever met will make if they pooled their money for the rest of their lives?

There is trying to get a good deal, and then there is just being an idiot.

If Mitch Marner actually meets with other teams, the Toronto Maple Leafs should tell him to forget it.  This is a line you do not cross.

Take one meeting, and we’ll make you sit the year, then we’ll trade you to Arizona.

That’s what I’d tell him.  People talk about this guy for captain? He doesn’t seem to have the character to manage the night shift at Burger King.

If Mitch Marner is the guy we thought he was, he should tell his agent and his father to stop embarrassing him. He should take control of his own narrative.

Marner is an adult.  His representatives are making him look terrible, and they are destroying his reputation. He needs to take back some control here.

If he doesn’t, then I guess this is who he is.  I don’t need him to sign a team-friendly home-town discount deal. But I would like to see him put winning ahead of greed.

No team he could reasonably sign with, will have the Leafs ability to ice the best roster in the NHL.  No city will embrace him like we will.

If that isn’t enough, because you’re so immature you feel like you need a number to tell you that you are just as special as Auston, then hit the road pal.

You want to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs?  Then sign a reasonable contract (I’m all for overpaying him, actually) and stop with the drama.