Decked out in a blue Toronto Maple Leafs ball cap turned backward, Mitch Marner started his media day press conference at training camp by announcing he would not be speaking about his contract, which expires after the coming season, or presumably, the possibility of an extension.
“I’m not here to talk about that,” he said politely.
Leafs general manager Brad Treliving also declined to speak on the subject when.
Even as the two sides try to keep things quiet, it sure seems like talks are indeed underway.
Asked about the status of negotiations by The Athletic this week, Marner’s agent, Darren Ferris, responded with the following statement:
“To maintain the integrity of ongoing negotiations, it is essential that these discussions remain confidential and are conducted in a constructive manner. As such, we will not be providing public updates on their status at this time.”
“Ongoing negotiations.” The Leafs may be already talking to Ferris about Marner’s next contract, the subject of which was a major talking point on day one of camp.
On the one hand, it’s not surprising. Marner became eligible to sign an extension on July 1. He is among the most talented players in franchise history. Why wouldn’t the Leafs and their management team want to explore the possibility of making him a lifetime Leaf?
On the other hand, why not wait?
Wouldn’t seeing how things play out for Marner and the team in the playoffs make more sense? Why further cement a core that already includes Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly without knowing whether this team, led by those stars, can finally make a deep run?
Marner’s regular season pedigree is already well-established. His skill set is elite and unique. He ranks fifth all-time among Leafs in assists and eighth in points, was a finalist for the Selke Trophy two seasons ago, and was twice dubbed the top right winger in hockey.
It just hasn’t translated to the postseason, not as much as the Leafs have needed it to anyway, especially for his current cap hit of $10.9 million.
Marner had a strong defensive series against Boston last spring in a challenging matchup role against the Bruins’ best players, but was ultimately held to one goal and two assists in seven games. The Leafs needed more in a series that saw them struggle to score with Matthews and Nylander both missing time due to injuries.
Marner was held without a point in Games 6 and 7 and had only three shots on goal, leading to a summer of speculation about his future in Toronto.
The Leafs might argue that Marner is a 27-year-old star, a homegrown star at that, and that giving up on stars is bad business. They might also be wary of letting Marner play out his contract, only to see him leave for “nothing” as an unrestricted free agent next summer.
But again, what if things go wrong for the Leafs and for Marner when it really matters and they have already extended his contract, which would presumably come with another no-movement clause? Why not see how the playoffs go and then dive deep into talks? If Marner excels and the team, say, reaches the Eastern Conference final and maybe even wins a Stanley Cup, the extension would be a formality.
The Leafs might even have leverage knowing that Marner wouldn’t want to go any place else, especially after a long postseason run.
Perhaps the Leafs don’t want to risk even the possibility of Marner walking away, even though his exit would free up a whack of cap space (in addition to the space that will come with Tavares’ $11 million coming off the books in 2025).
It would have been easy for Marner to seek an exit after last season when he became the scapegoat for most of the team’s playoff problems. Marner and his camp made it clear that he wouldn’t be going anywhere, that his no-movement clause wouldn’t be lifted under any circumstances. The Leafs opted not to push him on it.
His approach could be seen as admirable. His desire to stay spoke to his love of being a Leaf, a point he elaborated on when asked on Wednesday.
“Growing up in this area I’ve always been a Leafs fan. I’ve always wanted this team to succeed and to win just to see what that would feel like as a fan, and now being a part of it it’s pretty special,” Marner said.
The Leafs still believe that Marner can be, will be, a big part of winning a Stanley Cup for the first time in nearly 60 years. And they may be right. But what if they’re not? Why not take a wait-and-see approach?
Keeping things quiet on contract talks is a marked change from the way things went down between the Leafs and the Marner camp last time around. On the day that an extension for Matthews was announced in Feb. 2019, Ferris told The Toronto Star that the Leafs were “trying to lowball” Marner on extension talks.
The tenor of talks was contentious and Marner ended up missing the first day of camp before signing a six-year extension, the one that will expire next summer.
If indeed they have already decided they want to extend Marner, it’s easy to see this playing out much like it did with Nylander last season. Nylander arrived at camp without a contract, rocked out for three months, and was awarded an eight-year extension with a cap hit of $11.5 million.
Does Marner end up with the same contract? More dollars? Fewer years?
The chatter about an extension will only intensify if Marner, a notoriously so-so starter, cooks at the beginning of the season.
But if this is only about the regular season, why isn’t Marner signed already?
(Top photo: Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press via The Associated Press)
