Toronto Maple Leafs: Making Sense of the Mitch Marner Negotiations!

Has Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas gotten himself trapped on the “Ferris wheel”?

The Toronto market is a hotbed, filled with an intense media circus, and crazed fans who are desperate for success. Darren Ferris has all of Toronto Maple Leafs fans, especially Darren Dreger hanging like a marionette.

Dreger reported today that Toronto is insistent on Marner signing the seven or eight year deal at 11 million. What was also included in this offer was the 1.6 million in B bonuses Toronto would not pay Marner in his entry level contract. Marner’s camp rejected this offer and are persistent on 3 years.

Dreger at times, has sounded like an auctioneer with the Marner camp “They want 11, they want 12, they want 13, going once, going twice! Sold! Zurich in the back gets Marner for 100,000 Swiss Francs!”

However this is playing out in reality, the perception is that Darren Ferris is getting his trusty insider Darren Dreger to negotiate through the media.

I am here to make sense of these negotiations, will this be easy? No. Is it worth it to try? Yes.

Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch Marner

Ever since Marner put on skates, it was clear he was going to be special. Mitch’s parents realized this and did everything they could to get him to the NHL. Along his journey, it wasn’t smooth sailing to becoming the 4th overall pick in the 2015 NHL entry draft. Marner has had doubters since day 1 for being “too small”.

During the summer of 2015, when Marner was drafted, Leafs management signed Mitch to an ELC. Now we can sit here and say “Mitch hasn’t even played an NHL game yet, an ELC is fair value for him.”

This came at a time where Lou Lamoriello was at the helm of the Leafs front office, and one of Lou’s rules, was that he did not hand out rookie bonuses.  This apparently upset Marner, because Auston Matthews did get his bonuses.

Last summer during the Nylander negotiations *shivers* Dubas tried to hit two birds with one stone and tried to get a contract worked out with Mitch. Ferris was quick to shut down these negotiations.

Dubas could only do as much as he could, trying to sign Marner throughout the 2018-19 season, but Ferris couldn’t help himself by getting involved with the media. Calling out Dubas for lowballing Marner and calling the Matthews contract a terrible contract.

Does Marner deserve his money? Some say yes, some say no, not a chance. I am going to say this- if you are ever going to overspend on a player, make sure they are good and young- Marner is both.

What really rubs Leafs nation the wrong way is the idea that Marner rejected fair contracts that pay him roughly the same as Tavares and Matthews (According to Bob Mackenzie).

Marner should sign for a lot of money, he’s a great player.  But judging by the leaks to the media, he is asking for far too much money.

If Mitch prices himself out of Toronto, he will regret it. Mitch could do something truly special here, by winning with his favorite team, being the hometown hero.