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NHL Hall of Fame Adam Oates has come to the defense of Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner.
Following the Maple Leafs’ first-round playoff exit to the Boston Bruins, fans took aim at Marner for his play. The forward didn’t play up to his expectations, but Oates believes the forward is getting too much blame.
“When (Williams) Nylander yelled at him. Well, Nylander, first of all, you don’t play against everybody’s best. You play against everybody’s second-best, let’s get that straight. Number two, he was mad at (Auston) Matthews for a bad turnover at the blue line. That’s what he’s mad at and he’s also mad and he threw his gloves. Why? Because he knows tomorrow in the paper, they’re gonna blame him,” Oates said on The Cam & Strick Podcast.
“The power play was 1-for-20. If they were 5-for-20, they’d still be playing right now. And he’d have three more points, four more points, they wouldn’t be complaining right now, would they? So, therefore, now you look at the power play. Of course. That’s 2 units, 10 guys, and 1 coach, right? And the head coach. It’s never one guy and I feel bad for him because he’s in that market that makes it very difficult. The winning goal, Pastrnak’s goal they’re blaming him and it’s like, if anybody knows anything about hockey, they were in a neutral zone regroup. So F1 changed and he jumped over for F1, Pastrnak’s not his responsibility at all,” Oates continued about Marner.
In the playoffs, Marner recorded 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points in 7 games.
As for Oates, he played 1,337 games in the NHL recording 341 goals and 1,079 assists for 1,420 points. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012.
Marner Wants to Remain in Toronto
Although Marner has become a scapegoat for Maple Leafs fans, the skilled forward is hoping to remain with the team.
Marner has one year left on his deal, but speaking at locker cleanout day the forward said he wants to sign a contract extension.
“That would be a goal,” Marner said, via NHL.com. “I’ve expressed my love for this place, this city. Obviously, I’ve grown up here. We’ll start thinking about that now and try to figure something out.”
Marner does have a full No Movement clause so he has the right to decline any trade and remain in Toronto if he chooses to.
Last season, Marner recorded 26 goals and 59 assists for 85 points in 69 games.
Matthews Defends Marner
After Toronto was eliminated in Game 7 in the first round of the playoffs, Marner took plenty of heat from fans and media in the city.
However, at locker cleanout day, Matthews had nothing but positive things to say about Marner as he defended his teammate.
“There’s always going to be a scapegoat… We love Mitchy,” Matthews said, via The Hockey News. “He’s a great teammate, a great friend and a great competitor. In the end, we’re all human beings and you take on a lot as players — rightfully so. When you see someone go through something like that, it’s hard on everybody.”
Matthews missed Games 5 and 6 due to an illness and then an injury.
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