Toronto Maple Leafs Mitch Marner Situation Coming to a Head in August

Expect the Mitch Marner situation with the Toronto Maple Leafs to finally be resolved this month.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have been punting the Marner Situation down the line to deal with later every since the season ended.

The Situation is as follows:

The Leafs lost in the playoffs to the Bruins despite the fact that their GM failed to make a major addition at the trade deadline and hamstrung the team with a bunch of defensemen who couldn't move the puck and a waiver-wire goalie he should have replaced but didn't. Following that, despite making a solid effort at an upset, the Leafs fans vented their collective spleens at Marner despite the fact he played through the playoffs on basically one leg after coming back a month early from a high-ankle sprain.

Marner took the blame for the Leafs loss, and due to his expiring contract and the fact that Nylander recently signed one, he was the de facto choise to be traded in order to symbolize change. Of course, this was an emotional and ridiculous idea, so the team didn't act on it.

But they still haven't signed him either, so the situation hangs over the team's head like a knife waiting to drop.

Toronto Maple Leafs Mitch Marner Situation Coming to a Head in August

The Leafs have three options with the Marner Situation: they can trade him, they can sign him, or they can let the situation fester all season, distract the team and walk him to free-agency where the possibility of losing the second best player the franchise has had in 40 years for nothing.

Obviously it would be bad managment to the point of self-parody if the Leafs let the situation fester all season long. It will be all people talk about and it will be the filter through which every win, loss or off-ice event that happens for the next ten months.

It will be exhausting. If you think you have seen off-ice distractions before, just wait until the Leafs are in danger of walking Marner to free-agency. That isn't happening because I just cannot believe that the people in the Leafs front office would be that stupid and incompatent.

Since it's beyond belief that the Leafs are that poorly run, that means they therefore must resolve the situation soon. And since you litterally cannot win a trade for MItch Marner (he costs too much, has a full no-movement clause and is one of the. best hockey players alive) signing him is the only option.

It's basically a foregone conclusion that the Leafs will sign Marner before the season starts. The only problem? Who says he wants to sign here, or sign a deal when his stock is at an all-time low?

The only way forward here is for Marner to show some good will. He's got to say that he's willing to take less money to make the team better. It is the only way to sign him without starting a riot, and all of the other options (trade, wait it out) are basiclly untennable.

The Leafs are in a pickle, but expect it to come to a head sometime this month.