The Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch Marner have been at a stalemate for months now and it feels like a contract is never going to get done.
With Marner possibly not having a contract before training camp, the Toronto Maple Leafs will be without their star winger.
And yes, we know that. But, do you we know who’s really running the contract negotiations?
Of course it’s Leafs GM Kyle Dubas, or at least that’s what we thought.
Marner Negotiations
This tweet confusing things a little bit:
Dreger on TSN1050 says that after Kawhi left the Raptors, sources told him they believed MLSE would put pressure on Shanahan and the Leafs to do everything to keep Mitch Marner.
— #1 A'Ja Wilson Fan (@Account4hockey) September 3, 2019
It's been previously reported that Shanahan has taken a more active role w/Marner this summer.
Wouldn’t Brendan Shanahan already be involved in the negotiations? I’m sure Dubas talks to him about the numbers and the term, but even then, Shanahan is involved regardless.
Unfortunately, the William Nylander negotiations went down to the wire, but Kyle’s learned from that.
For me, if Shanahan wants to come in and take over the negotiations, by all means. But what strikes me is, the tweet reads: “After Kawhi left the Raptors sources told him they believed MLSE would put pressure on Shanahan and the Leafs to do everything to keep Mitch Marner.”
The confusing part is, we’ve known for long time that Marner wants to stay. Even without any news about it, we all know he wants to stay.
This was his dream, to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs. He grew up watching them and when you watch him on and off the ice, you can tell he’s having the time of his life. So why does MLSE think he would want to leave?
Not enough money for him? Sure, I’d understand that. But you can’t compare Kawhi Leonard leaving the Toronto Raptors to Marner leaving the Leafs. Kawhi is from Los Angeles and that’s why he left. He wanted to go home.
That’s why I know for a fact, Marner doesn’t want to leave. Toronto is his home. He loves it here, he knows what this team has and he knows what this team can do (win a Stanley Cup).
But, in terms of Shanahan playing a bigger role in negotiations, it doesn’t bother me one bit. Sure, he may view Marners worth differently than what Dubas does, and that’s okay.
Me, you and everyone else that’s a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs wants him to sign and wants it to be a fair deal. And whether that’s Dubas or Shanahan negotiating it, I’m sure the deal will be what’s best for both sides.