The Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch Marner are out of excuses

The Toronto Maple Leafs are now officially out of excuses with regard to Mitch Marner’s new contract. The recent announcement regarding the Edmonton Oilers’ signing superstar Leon Draisaitl to an eight-year, $112 million extension proves that there’s no point in waiting around.

Like Marner, Draisaitl was set to become a free agent after this upcoming season. Like the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Oilers faced a tough salary cap situation. Moreover, the Oilers still have to worry about new contracts for Connor McDavid and Evan Bouchard.

But the Oilers showed that there’s no sense in letting contract negotiations float around. Insider Elliotte Friedman reported that negotiations between the Oilers and Draisaitl’s people picked up over the Labour Day weekend.

As such, what are the Toronto Maple Leafs and Marner waiting for?

In short, all sides involved are out of excuses. If they wanted to get something done, they would have already moved significantly toward an agreement. The Draisaitl situation proves that when a player wants to stay, and the team wants to keep him, they find a way to make things work.

So, does the lack of a deal between Marner and the Leafs mean that Marner wants to leave? Does it signal that Maple Leafs management is plain incompetent? Is there something else brewing beneath the surface that we don’t know about? It most likely just means that the Leafs wanted to wait and see what kind of money Draisaitl ended up with so they wouldn't overpay Marner.

Whatever the case, the fact is that the Leafs and Marner have nowhere left to hide. If the plan is to trade Marner, both sides should be forthcoming about it. If Marner wants to leave, perhaps it might be best for him to come clean about it.

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch Marner are out of excuses

With Draisaitl’s contract extension official, is Mitch Marner’s extension the next shoe to drop?

In other words, were Marner and the Leafs waiting to see how much Draisaitl got before inking a new deal in Toronto? If that’s the case, perhaps the Marner camp wanted to use Draisaitl’s deal as a reference point before agreeing to a contract extension.

Otherwise, the Draisaitl deal could actually work in the Toronto Maple Leafs favour. By having a big name sign an extension before the opening of training camp, the Leafs could utilise that situation to bring rekindle negotiations.

The Draisaitl contract will prevent the Leafs from getting embarssed by having Edmonton sign him after Marner signed and for less money. Otherwise, it's not likely to matter much, as Draisaitl now makes more than Matthews and Marner isn't and wasn't ever going to exceed what Matthews makes.

All in all, I feel that Draisaitl’s contract could light a spark leading Marner and the Leafs to work something out sooner rather than later. If training camp goes by and Marner does not have a new deal in place, it will be a complete disaster for the Leafs.