Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner is hosting his Marner Assist Foundation on July 12 and the winger is doing media rounds to promote it.
However, only certain outlets were able to interview Marner, and according to David Alter of The Hockey News, all questions about the Maple Leafs or his future weren’t permitted.
Mitch Marner is doing media rounds for his Marner Assist Foundation today, a great charity now in its 6th year.
This year, though, has been quite different as far as interviews go. No #Leafs questions permitted.
Here is the interview he did with CTV this hour.
It is interesting that Marner and his team decided to not permit any questions about the Maple Leafs and his future. However, he has been the subject of trade rumors all summer, but so far no deal has been made.
Marner does have a full no-movement clause as he’s entering the final year of the six-year $65.4 million deal he signed in 2019. With Marner entering the final year, many fans were hoping he would be traded this summer after the Maple Leafs were eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs by the Boston Bruins.
Marner recorded 26 goals and 59 assists for 85 points in 69 games last season.
Maple Leafs Fans Criticze Marner For Banning Questions
Following the news that Marner was banning all questions about the Maple Leafs and his future, fans criticized the star forward.
Maple Leafs fans felt like Marner should be able to answer questions about his future and talk about still playing in Toronto.
@dalter So it begins….Wonder if he gets boo’d in game 1 of the regular season.
“Typical Marner. Can’t handle the pressure,” a fan wrote.
“Such a clown. Ducks accountability at every corner,” a fan added.
Other fans, however, defended Marner saying he shouldn’t have to talk about his future at a charity event.
@dalter Good, the focus should be on the charity not his contract/trade speculation
“Can you blame him?! He’s been vilified on the daily since they were eliminated in round one. He’s doing good work here, and that should be the focus,” a fan added.
“There shouldn’t be any #Leafs questions. He is doing an interview about a wonderful charity of his and the content should be focused on that,” another fan added.
Other fans also criticized Marner thinking he was only doing the charity event as a tax write-off.
@dalter It’s a tax right off. That’s why they do these.
..
“Main principles of the charity are his parents and a tax write off,” a fan added.
“No Leafs questions permitted is sooo Mitch and why many want him gone Just openly honestly answer the questions and maybe people will soften on him It’s why you make and raise the millions Mitchy,” a fan added.
It’s clear the majority of Maple Leafs fans aren’t happy with Marner and think he should have talked about his future with the team.
Marner Wants to Remain With Toronto
Although Marner won’t talk about his future at the charity event, he made it clear at the year-end media that he wanted to remain in Toronto.
“That’d be a goal. I’ve expressed my love for this place, this city. Obviously, I’ve grown up here. We’ll start thinking about that now and trying to figure something out… It means the world to me,” Marner told the media on May 6.
“We’re looked upon as kind of Gods here, to be honest, and something that you really appreciate. The love that you get here from this fan base and this attention is none like any other. You saw with the (NBA’s Toronto) Raptors a couple of years ago, the love (fans) still have for a lot of those players (who helped them win a championship in 2019) that they had to trade off this year. That’s the love you want,” Marner added.
Marner was drafted fourth overall in the 2015 NHL draft by the Maple Leafs.
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Maple Leafs’ $65 Million Forward Bans Questions About Future At Charity Event