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[Toronto Maple Leafs]

Mitch Marner and the corrosion of the Ontario Dream

How many of us get to live out our dreams in actuality? It may be reductive, or perhaps somewhat outdated, but the idea that every Ontario kid wants to play for the Toronto Maple Leafs still largely holds true in this hockey-mad market. Mitch Marner was afforded the chance to live out this dream during his nine seasons with the Maple Leafs, and the erosion of goodwill from the fan base lays squarely on the star winger. There will be a lot of bad blood ahead of Friday’s return game, and it’s entirely self-inflicted.

Marner was ordained from greatness, starting from his minor hockey career. I accidentally scouted Marner, playing for the Vaughan Kings, while waiting for an older age group to get underway in Mississauga. Marner skated circles around everyone on the ice, and a few years later, following an excellent U15 season with the Don Mills Flyers, Marner was selected 19th overall by the London Knights, rebuffing the University of Michigan in 2013.

We won’t go into exhaustive detail, but Marner went onto a tour-de-force career with the Knights, winning Memorial Cup MVP in 2016, a year after being selected fourth overall by the Maple Leafs. Marner was living out the Ontario Dream in real-time, a homegrown top-five pick for the Maple Leafs after winning everything under the sun for the crown jewel of the Ontario Hockey League.

Marner should’ve known better. He knew exactly what comes with the territory of being a homegrown star for the Maple Leafs. Marner indeed had every right to maximize the value of his labour, but his camp made it clear that it was always about money, rather than a sense of inherent loyalty. Perhaps this should’ve been evident from Marner’s contract negotiations in 2019, but when you’re a homegrown star for a contending Leafs team, the benefit of the doubt is naturally extended.

There’s a natural debate here: Marner was well within his rights to ask for the most handsome contract imaginable. He doesn’t have the right to be considered a fan favourite simultaneously, if that’s the case. And it’s not like Marner arrived in Toronto as an outsider. He was a household name in Southern Ontario after the 2016 season, with his profile growing tenfold upon suiting up for the Leafs. He knew what came with the territory.

Several well-connected sources around the league square the blame on Marner’s agent, Darren Ferris, but at what point does the player take some responsibility, for a deteriorated relationship with the fans? Marner refused to speak about his contract negotiations during his final season with the Maple Leafs, even when there were natural entry points. After it was reported that Marner refused to waive his no-movement clause in order to facilitate a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes centred around Mikko Rantanen, many of the card-carrying optimists (myself included) finally had to reckon with the idea the entirety of Marner’s career was about maximizing his contract value, rather than being considered one of the all-time great Leafs.

If you’re going to bet on yourself, you can’t play the worst two games of your career in Game 5 and 7 of a second-round series against a heated rival, refuse to take accountability, and expect the world’s largest hockey market to be content with the circumstances. And now Marner has the circumstances of his choosing, starring for a contending Vegas Golden Knights team that is often an ancillary option among the city’s nightlife and entertainment holdings.

Marner had the Ontario Dream handed to him, and he voluntarily rejected it. There are other shining examples on the team — namely, but not exclusively John Tavares — that illustrate how to thrive in Toronto. Tavares voluntarily signed with the Maple Leafs, inviting further pressure on a career where he has been in the spotlight a full two years before his OHL Draft year, let alone going first overall in the 2009 NHL Draft several years later.

Maybe you can’t have it all in Ontario, but Marner came as close as anyone could’ve. He categorically rejected the idea, growing hostile over routine questions about his upcoming contract, wanting the adoration that comes with being the sixth-leading scorer in franchise history and none of the consequences. After this week, Marner will be out of sight and out of mind, but he’ll live forever as a case study on the corrosion of the Ontario dream.

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Source: https://theleafsnation.com/news/mitch-marner-corrosion-ontario-dream