Par for the course, especially in this market, it was another eventful media day in Toronto as the Leafs kicked off training camp for the 2024-25 campaign.
Just like he did a month ago when Auston Matthews was named captain, Mitch Marner elected not to answer questions regarding his future with the organization. In the grand scheme of things, I understand why he elected to go that route. John Tavares said virtually the same thing, William Nylander did the same song and dance last September.
Big picture, it will be fascinating to see how this entire situation unfolds. If it does get done in-season, you get the sense it will come very quietly like the Nylander extension last January. No one wants to talk about it —not even the agent. That said, Marner’s rep Darren Ferris did offer up this statement to The Athletic when broached on the topic:
“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” suggests that there have been talks and that there will be more talks, which falls in line with what all the marquee insiders have been saying since the beginning of July.
Any way you slice it, simply put, I don’t think it makes sense for the Leafs to make a long-term commitment to Marner anytime soon.
Instead, the best course of action would be to slow the entire process down, which for all we know, Brad Treliving and company could already be doing. Indisputably, it would be in the team’s best interest to kick the can down the road and let things play out before doing anything. Of course, the last thing you want to do if you’re Leafs management is make the same mistake again and allocate an exorbitant amount of the salary cap towards three players. The team needs to strengthen their depth, not weaken it. They should take a calculated approach – not that they haven’t before – when attacking this negotiation.
For the record, I think Marner’s primed for a monster season. He’s a great player, but at this point, I have my reservations about paying him again. Truth be told, I would rather allocate the money elsewhere in hopes of balancing the roster.
It will be intriguing to see how this all plays out.
