Marner saga reportedly turned some free agents away from Leafs
It’s no secret that playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs is like few other things in sports.
According to a recent report, a few free agents this summer have said “thanks, no thanks” to playing for the world’s most valuable hockey team due to the hoopla surrounding the team.
Mitch Marner has been the subject of all sorts of rumours this offseason, after a disappointing playoff performance where the Leafs crashed out in the first round for the seventh time in their last eight appearances.
If you turn on a sports talk show, check out an internet forum, hit up Daily Hive, or open the sports section in the newspaper, there’s a good chance you’ll find someone talking about whether they’d like to trade Marner, try to extend him long term, or simply let him walk in free agency a year from now.
Marner had 85 points in 69 games this year in the regular season but added just a goal and two assists in seven playoff games against the Boston Bruins. He is heading into the final year of a six-year contract, with a cap hit of $10.93 million for next season. He may also hit unrestricted free agency next summer.
On an appearance on Kyper & Bourne from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, one of the NHL’s top insiders suggested that Toronto media and fanbase hysteria around Marner has driven a few potential free agents away from considering the Leafs as a destination.
lol pic.twitter.com/aHAMXF8ZAP
— g (@gilleafs) July 2, 2024
“It’s funny, one player told me that there are some players that have watched from outside, some players that have watched what has gone on with this whole Marner thing over the last month or two and have gone, ‘I want no part of that. I don’t want anything to do with that.’… I think people know Toronto’s [unique], some players were like, ‘nope, that’s not going to be me.'”
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