{"id":28306,"date":"2025-06-30T23:01:09","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T23:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/28306\/"},"modified":"2025-06-30T23:01:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T23:01:09","slug":"should-leafs-fans-view-mitch-marner-as-a-hero-or-villain-a-debate-with-myself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/28306\/","title":{"rendered":"Should Leafs fans view Mitch Marner as a hero or villain? A debate with myself"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Athletic has live coverage of NHL free agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s official. The Mitch Marner era is over in Toronto, with the Maple Leafs executing a sign-and-trade deal<\/a> that sends him to the Vegas Golden Knights hours before Monday\u2019s midnight deadline.<\/p>\n

Leafs fans, how are we feeling about all of this? More specifically, how are we feeling about Marner?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s put the question more simply: When he makes his first trip back to Toronto, are you booing him? Does he get an ovation? Something in between? No reaction at all?<\/p>\n

I think I can guess where the majority might be leaning. I\u2019m also pretty sure that it\u2019s far from unanimous. So let\u2019s debate the subject with arguments from two different types of fans, both of whom are me.<\/p>\n

In one corner, my sports fan brain \u2014 logical, rational and not especially susceptible to easy narratives. In the other, my sports fan heart, which is not quite as rational, but is also the main reason I\u2019m here.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worth pointing out that the last time we broke out this gimmick for a Leafs debate, it was 2022 and we were still doing the \u201crun it back\u201d dance with this team. Back then, my head said to stay the course, while my heart said to blow it all up. If you look back at that post<\/a>, well, I think it\u2019s fair to say that the heart won, or at least it should have. We\u2019ll see if that holds true today.<\/p>\n

Marner is an ex-Leaf. Are we mad at him? Should we be? I\u2019m not sure, so let\u2019s drop the gloves and square off.<\/p>\n

OK gentlemen, you know the drill. Let\u2019s start with the opening arguments \u2026<\/p>\n

Head: <\/strong>Marner played nine seasons in Toronto. In that time, he scored more points than all but four players in the 100-plus year history of the franchise. He\u2019s their all-time leading scorer among wingers. He was a first-team All-Star twice, making him the first Leaf to achieve that honor multiple times since the 1960s. He\u2019s easily one of the greatest Maple Leafs of all time, and quite possibly the single best winger they\u2019ve ever had.<\/p>\n

Now he\u2019s choosing to sign a rich deal and continue his career elsewhere, something he has every right to do. This isn\u2019t complicated \u2014 he was a great Leaf who did just about everything you could have asked of him, for nearly a decade. Now he wants to move on. As a fan, you say thank you and turn the page.<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> First of all, nice job slipping in that \u201cjust about\u201d qualifier. We\u2019ll get to the playoff performances in a minute. But first, let\u2019s look at the bigger picture. Marner was a homegrown kid who grew up a Leafs fan, even wearing No. 93 for Doug Gilmour. He should have owned this town, the way Gilmour did decades ago. Instead, he\u2019s leaving as a villain, and it\u2019s all because he chose to prioritize his contract and comfort over the team, then never lived up to that contract once the games mattered.<\/p>\n

To top it all off, there\u2019s a whiff of petulance hanging over his departure, with murmurs that he somehow feels disrespected by a team that constantly bent over backward to keep him happy. So now he\u2019s taking his ball and going \u2026 well, not home, actually, but as far away as possible.<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> Which he has every right to do. His contract is up. He doesn\u2019t owe the team anything.<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> Oh, give me a break. He owes them plenty. For six years, he was overpaid. Every spring, he\u2019d disappear, and some increasingly large portion of the fan base would call for a trade. But the organization never even tried to move him, instead racing to reassure him with public and private vows to stay the course. They gave him no-trade protection as soon as he was eligible for it. Even when the team had the ability to move him, the team president would personally call to assure him they wouldn\u2019t think about it. If he was ever even mildly criticized or disciplined by a coach, you could count on them immediately walking it back to protect his feelings<\/a>. He was protected by this team for nine years. And at the end of it all, not only did he not re-sign, he reportedly wasn\u2019t even interested in serious negotiations. He had both eyes on the door the whole time. And now he\u2019s going to play the victim on the way out?<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> Good lord, you\u2019re dramatic.<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> Maybe. But show me where I\u2019m wrong.<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> Gladly. First of all, all this talk about Marner sulking or playing the victim is just made up. He hasn\u2019t said a bad word about the Leafs publicly. You and all the other fans saying stuff like this are just projecting. You need him to be the bad guy, so you\u2019re imagining scenarios to paint him that way. He hasn\u2019t done any of that.<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> Yeah, I guess some of those leaks to friendly media over the years just fell out of the sky.<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> Please. Sorry that the biggest media machine in the hockey world occasionally got a morsel to chew on. But let\u2019s talk about a bigger issue, one that\u2019s been hanging over this situation for years: that six-year contract he signed in 2019.<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> By all means, let\u2019s do that.<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> He lived up to it. The Leafs gave him a $10.9 million cap hit, and his production matched that. Yes, absolutely, the playoff results weren\u2019t there. But when you look at his regular-season numbers, he was absolutely a $10.9 million player on balance. Most years, probably better. How do you watch a guy live up to his contract and still cry about him being overpaid?<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> Because he was! You can run the numbers however you want, but that 2019 deal was his second contract. Just about every other young star signs a second deal that\u2019s team-friendly \u2014 that\u2019s how the system is supposed to work. But no, not Mitch Marner. He had to try to reset the market for young RFAs<\/a>, so he let the talks drag on all summer, let rumors of offer sheets<\/a> hang out there, and watched his agent talk trash about being lowballed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He worked every bit of leverage he had, signed a record-breaking deal, and then watched comparable young players like Mikko Rantanen, Brayden Point and Matthew Tkachuk sign for significantly less. Hey, quick question, did any of those guys win anything on those deals? I feel like they might have.<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> So he should have intentionally signed for less than he knew he was worth, because that\u2019s what everyone else was doing.<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> Well, yeah. It\u2019s called market value.<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> OK, so he got more than market value, then lived up to the contract anyway. That feels like something you should be mad at Kyle Dubas and the Leafs front office for, not the player for accepting the offer. By the way, didn\u2019t Auston Matthews sign for even more months before Marner\u2019s deal got done?<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> Oh, don\u2019t worry, we\u2019re not letting Dubas off the hook. And yes, Matthews took pretty much the same \u201csqueeze every penny\u201d approach that Marner did. But he won an MVP and three Rocket Richards on that contract. And more importantly, he\u2019s still here. For now. If we\u2019re doing this same debate three years from now for Matthews, we\u2019ll cross that bridge then.<\/p>\n

For now, the point is that Marner\u2019s extension changed everything. It\u2019s the moment when he went from hometown hero that everyone was rooting for to something else. It\u2019s ratcheted up the pressure, and the expectations, and rightly so. It absolutely set him up to be the villain someday. And he knew that, or should have, and he pushed for it anyway. And the fans eventually ended up resenting him for it, which was a 100 percent foreseeable outcome. Hope those extra few bucks were worth it.<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> Just to be clear, those \u201cfew extra bucks\u201d were millions of dollars that he could use to build a future for his family. But sure, feel free to sit on your couch and lecture him about how he should have taken less if he wanted everyone to like him more.<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> Hey, if you\u2019re going to be the sort of player who cares deeply about being liked, then make your decisions accordingly. Or he could have come through in the playoffs. That also would have done it. Let\u2019s not skip over that part.<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> We won\u2019t, and it\u2019s fair criticism. The Core Four never came through in the postseason, which is why the era ultimately failed. It\u2019s completely rational for fans to be mad about that. But why does Marner get all the blame? Why was he always the scapegoat for this era?<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> He wasn\u2019t. That\u2019s revisionist history. Are we really going to pretend that William Nylander wasn\u2019t the whipping boy for years in Toronto, getting dropped into ridiculous trade rumors for second-pairing defensive defensemen every few months? Or that fans weren\u2019t trying to figure out how to send John Tavares to Robidas Island just a few years ago? The market has been all over Matthews at various points, especially in the playoffs. This idea that Marner was the only one who took criticism is a flat-out myth.<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> Is it? It didn\u2019t feel that way this spring.<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> Sure, because this was the year we knew he was on the way out.<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> Maybe he wouldn\u2019t have been if the fans and media and everyone else had just appreciated him more.<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> Appreciation is a two-way street. Like we said, Marner was all set up to be a hero in this city. And he was treated that way for most of his time here. He even said so \u2014 we all remember his infamous quote about being viewed as \u201ckind of gods.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> Which is a quote that gets twisted out of context to this day. He wasn\u2019t bragging. He was making a reasonable point and the words came out wrong. That happened to him a few times over the years, but it\u2019s no reason to turn on a guy. Unless, of course, you\u2019ve already made up your mind and you\u2019re just looking for an excuse.<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> The gods quote was fine, and I said that at the time. But you can\u2019t say that the fans view you as a god one year and then complain that you didn\u2019t get enough respect the next. How much is enough? Did everyone need to throw rose petals at his feet on every shift? At what point does any of the responsibility shift to the player to actively earn the respect he wants so much?<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> But again, he did. He was a fantastic player for a long time. And then he wasn\u2019t, way too often, once the playoffs started. Granted. But even then, it\u2019s not like he wasn\u2019t trying. It\u2019s not like he didn\u2019t want to win in Toronto. If you think his drop-off in playoff production means he\u2019s not worth a massive extension, then you should be happy that he\u2019s getting it elsewhere. But it\u2019s no reason to carry a grudge.<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> Holding a grudge is what fans do. Or at least, it\u2019s what we do when a guy who\u2019s been coddled can\u2019t seem to wait to leave. He wanted out so badly that he may have been talking to Vegas early, setting up the Leafs to force the Knights into a deal out of fear of tampering charges<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> OK, but you\u2019re a Leafs fan. Shouldn\u2019t you be glad they got something out of that situation? Now you don\u2019t have to hear about letting a guy go for nothing.<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> Oh sure, a player may have broken the rules to get out of town, but it means we got some bottom-six forward depth out of it. Cool. Thanks a million.<\/p>\n

And by the way, on the subject of the Golden Knights: You\u2019re telling me that Marner didn\u2019t get enough respect in Toronto, so he\u2019s going to bail out and head to the single most cutthroat franchise in the league? This makes sense to everyone? Good luck with all that respect you were craving when you\u2019re being shoved out the door in three years to make room for Jack Hughes or Cale Makar or whichever shiny new toy is available.<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> Again, the respect thing is just fans making stuff up to be mad about. Marner signed a fair contract with a good team in a cool city where his family will be happy. And he did it after nine years of being one of the most productive Leafs of all time. That\u2019s all that should matter. When he comes back to town with the Knights during the season, welcome him home with a big ovation. He earned it.<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> No thanks. I\u2019ll be booing him like it\u2019s Game 7 of another playoff series he no-showed for.<\/p>\n

Head:<\/strong> Fine. Go ahead and do that. It\u2019s your right as a fan and all that. Just know that you\u2019re not being reasonable, and you\u2019re ultimately not helping the team attract star players in the future.<\/p>\n

Heart:<\/strong> Even if we treat them like gods?<\/p>\n

(Photo: Claus Andersen \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Athletic has live coverage of NHL free agency. It\u2019s official. The Mitch Marner era is over in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":28307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[293,62,1304,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-28306","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-nhl","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114774808835703003","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}