Mitch Marner was offered 88 million by Toronto. Dear TSN and Toronto media. Next time you say either of our superstars want out maybe you should focus on your own players.

Much has been written about this already, but I think the Leafs organization shot themselves in the foot a bit by treating Marner very differently than Matthews right out of the gate. Lots of people saying 'he sure ain't Matthews' but let's just assume for the sake of argument that Marner's camp does not agree, and has the stats to prove it. Apparently the Leafs were absolutely firm that they would not include Schedule B bonus money in his entry level deal, it was simply a matter of 'team policy', which he apparently accepted grudgingly, and then they turned around and gave Matthews the full bonus spread. Then he lights it up, proves the doubters wrong, and his agent mentions part way through the season that their camp is being low-balled by the Leafs. That's the word his agent used. Not good. Now we read that Marner is mad because, guess what, he doesn't appreciate being told that he won't get the same AAV as Matthews. Add to that, the elephant in the room: the Leafs knew they were going to have to pay Marner a big contract, and then went out and threw a massive contract at Tavares. Now, the issue of what he's actually worth is of course important but my point here is that we can perhaps understand why his camp is playing hardball.

/r/EdmontonOilers Thread Parent