The Toronto Maple Leafs kick off their season in Montreal on Wednesday, as anticipation is brewing for a huge season ahead.
Maple Leafs general manager Brad Treliving caught up with the media on Tuesday at Leafs’ practice, to discuss the current state of some of his players, including star winger Mitch Marner.
Treliving made it very clear that he’s quite excited for the season ahead for Marner, and is expecting a successful campaign from the pending unrestricted free-agent forward.
“He’s had a great summer. He’s prepared. I couldn’t be more pleased with him during camp. He’s got a lot of juice to him,” Treliving said via TSN’s Mark Masters.
Marner, 27, is entering the final season of his current contract, set to earn $10.9 million against the cap. He spent parts of his offseason in Vail, Colorado, where he worked on his game alongside superstars Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon. It was the second season he’s trained alongside MacKinnon, who feels Marner should be in the conversation among the league’s best.
“I play with some of the best players in the league, and then I skate with (Marner) and he’s right up there with anyone,” MacKinnon said to Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin. “Especially at that Vail (Colorado) camp, there’s a lot of good players, and he’s stuck out as one of the best for sure.”
There’s been a lot of noise throughout the summer on what Marner’s future could look like, but it’s become pretty obvious, the GM and the player aren’t letting contract talks get in the way of their outlook or expectations for this season.
Marner is slated to start the year on the team’s top line, as head coach Craig Berube begins with a top trio of Marner, Auston Matthews and Matthew Knies. Marner is also set to start the season on the Leafs’ top power-play and penalty-kill units, giving him a legit shot at having a career season, in a contract year.
During the team’s opening media availability, Marner made it very clear he has no intention of talking about his contract status throughout the season, and certainly shot down any questions on his new deal, before the floor was even opened up for questions. While it may be top of mind for the home-grown product, he’s not allowing it to be a daily topic of discussion amongst media scrums.
The Maple Leafs prepare for the Canadiens in their opener, as Marner looks to get off to a hot start, and impress his GM enough to offer him the long-term extension he desires.
