Already set for life, Mitch Marner Should be a hometown hero and take a discount
The Toronto Maple Leafs need Mitch Marner to channel his inner Sidney Crosby
We can all pretty much assume that, based on the fact he has appeared in public several times wearing a bucket hat, that Mitch Marner has no ego.
If that is indeed true, it's time for Marner to put his money where his bucket hat is and take a second, more expensive public humiliation: taking less money than William Nylander makes.
Now, everyone in the entire world who is even slightly informed about the NHL knows that that is ridiculous. Mitch Marner is a world-class superstar on par with Nathan MacKinnon while William Nylander is merely very good.
It doesn't matter how angry Leafs fans are, how ignorant the makers of video games are, or how desperate the NHL Network is for engagement: Marner is a better hockey player than Nylander in the same way that the Tragically Hip are a more culturally significant musical act than Len (the guys who wrote "Steal my Sunshine.")
Doesn't matter. The Leafs - and the people who love them - need Marner to take one for the team.
Already set for life, Mitch Marner Should be a hometown hero and take discount
If Mitch Marner lost half his money and never earned another dollar, he'd still be the richest guy you know. The quality of his life won't change one iota if he makes $10.5 million or if he makes $12 million.
Like, it's expensive to shop at Abercrombie and Finch, I get it. But you can easily afford to dress for even the classiest UFC event at any NHL salary.
What will change if Marner takes a discount is the amount of Stanley Cups he will win. So he's got a choice: he can be the highest paid guy who never wins anything, or he can take a small haircut and become the local legend I assume he always wanted to be.
Marner wouldn't even need to win a Stanley Cup to become the biggest thing in Toronto since Drake somehow tricked people into thinking he was a good rapper. By being the first-star player to ever take a discount to play for the Leafs, Marner would instantly become as popular as a Wendal Clark or Darcy Tucker.
Should he win after doing so, he could even ascend to the popularity of a Taylor Swift or a Blue Jays utility player like John McDonald or Munenori Kawasaki. I know that sounds crazy, but if you doubt me you don't realize how much people will embrace a top-of-the-lineup player taking a discount for the fans of this city.
Sidney "Like I even need another Lamborghini" Crosby, who has famously trained with Marner this summer, has left over $40 million dollars on the table during his career because he wants to win more than he wants some extra money he can't even spend. He just signed a contract for about $4 million dollars under market value.
Marner should take some notes. You can't take it with you. You can't buy a Stanley Cup. But you can add another several WAR to your team by not beeing greedy. It sucks that he's the third one to sign a deal, but now it's on him. Besides, William Nylander was underpaid by like $4 million per season during his entire last contract, and he's fine.
Every time Marner looks across the room and sees OEL he's got to remind himself that that could be Erik Karlsson instead. It's up to Marner. The Leafs can implode and he can try to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup, or he can become an instant legend.
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I know that my personal hero, Bruce Springsteen, would not approve this message. At any other time I would suggest Marner squeeze those sons of guns at Rogers headquarters until they burst. But I am sick of watching other teams play hockey in May.