It shouldn’t have been this way for Mitch Marner and the Maple Leafs

Ten years ago, in a time of major change and uncertainty, the Maple Leafs made a decision that would alter the course of the franchise.

It was draft weekend in Florida and the Leafs owned the fourth pick following a disastrous 68-point season.

Mike Babcock, the new Leafs coach with the sway of an unprecedented eight-year contract, thought his team should consider using their top pick on a defenceman, like Noah Hanifin or Ivan Provorov.

Advertisement Mark Hunter, who shared the interim GMs role at that point with Kyle Dubas, thought otherwise.

Tasked with overseeing the draft, Hunter opted for the forward he knew best from his years running the OHLs London Knights: Mitch Marner.

Him being such a local boy, he will be able to handle the rigours of playing in Toronto, Hunter said not long after the draft concluded in June 2015.

Mitch Marners gonna be a good player for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Marner wasnt just a good player for the Maple Leafs.

He was a great player, one of the greatest in more than 100 years of franchise history.

Only Auston Matthews and Doug Gilmour have posted more points per game among Leafs who played in at least 300 games.

Three of the top six (and four of the top eight) single-season assist records belong to Marner, including the 75-assist campaign he posted last season.

Unlike his long-time co-star Matthews, the top pick in 2016 who was born in California and raised in Arizona, Marner was homegrown, a product of the Greater Toronto Area.

He grew up cheering for the Leafs and even wore the No.

93 for Gilmour, his dads favourite player, when he played for the Knights.

(Gilmour played his last game as a Leaf when Marner was only five years old).

The marriage of Marner and the Leafs should have been a hockey fairytale.

Marner should have gone down as one of the most popular players in franchise history, more adored than Gilmour, Wendel Clark or Johnny Bower.

He should have spent his entire career as a Leaf, become the franchises all-time leading scorer, had a statue built on Legends Row and a banner raised to the rafters of Scotiabank Arena.

Of course, it was not to be.

The relationship between Marner and the Leafs between Marner and his hometown grew so sour that Marner will now spend the next phase of his career playing for the Vegas Golden Knights.

His exit, while predictable, is also a sad end to what should have been a happy story.

Advertisement It didnt have to be this way.

Part one: Immaculate vibes and seeds of discontent In the beginning, it was great.

Marner burst onto the scene in 2016, alongside Matthews and the slick William Nylander, and right away made it clear that he was special with a skill set the franchise, never mind the NHL, hadnt quite seen before Patrick Kane-like but with awesome defensive ability.

The Leafs were young and they were fun in those days.

The vibes were immaculate.

A close six-game series loss to the Presidents Trophy-winning Washington Capitals in the spring of 2017 hinted at the upside of the group.

Marner was electric a year later in the first round of the 2018 playoffs.

The Leafs lost that series to Boston in seven games, but the veteran Bruins came away dazzled by Marner in particular and told him so afterward in the handshake line.

Thats one guy I pretty much singled out just to make sure to let him know he had a good series, said defenceman Kevan Miller.

Then-Bruins coach (and Marners soon-to-be coach with the Golden Knights) Bruce Cassidy told Marner he had a hell of a series.

By his third season, Marner was a flat-out star.

Playing alongside Zach Hyman and the newly signed John Tavares, he became the first Leaf in more than 20 years to register 94 points in a season.

He was beloved among his teammates for his upbeat, energetic personality.

James van Riemsdyk described him once as a bubbly person who was almost like your little brother drinking sodas, eating candies.

He wants to make jokes about everybody, have everybody make jokes about him, and be very involved, said long-time teammate Morgan Rielly .

Discontent was always simmering just beneath the surface, though.

There was Babcocks mistreatment of Marner the coach famously requesting that the star rank his teammates work ethic before revealing the results to the teammates in question in a fashion that embarrassed a young Marner.

Babcock also briefly placed Marner on the fourth line as a rookie.

That apparent infraction still bugged those around Marner years later.

The Leafs wouldnt and didnt do that that kind of thing to Matthews, they argued.

Advertisement How Marner was treated, looked upon and critiqued in comparison to Matthews and Nylander was a near-constant topic of conversation.

In the fall of 2018, Marners father, Paul, offered a window into that line of thinking when he spoke to The Athletic about his sons remarkable rise .

It drives our family nuts when we hear you guys all talk about who should be the captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Mitch never hardly gets any consideration, Paul Marner said.

Its because hes like this happy-go-lucky little kid.

But he championed the London Knights to the Memorial Cup with that same happy (personality).

The captaincy eventually went to Tavares and later to Matthews.

Even though his son had hit the jackpot, landing with his hometown team in the midst of a new and exciting era, Paul Marner seemed focused on what might have been, pondering a universe where 2015 No.

1 pick Connor McDavid wasnt in the same cohort as his son.

In any other draft, if Connors not there, you wouldve been talking about Mitch as first overall pick.

Paul Marner was an involved hockey dad from the beginning.

He filmed every one of his sons games while he barked out both encouragement and expletive-laced instruction from behind the glass.

You better get fing skating Mitch, I swear to God, Paul said to his son during a CBC feature on hockey parents in 2009.

In that same feature, he added, A lot of people have this vision that their kid is gonna go somewhere and they get really involved in it.

Its like were living our life through our kids.

The Leafs quietly hoped that, in time, the influence of his dad and those around him would wane as Marner grew older and matured.

Part two: A new contract, rising pressure After Marners second season, the Brendan Shanahan-led Leafs made a change in the front office, swapping the king of NHL GM experience in Lou Lamoriello for someone with no experience at all in Dubas.

Advertisement That inexperience showed when it came to Marners second NHL contract, which could have been extended soon after Dubas took over in the summer of 2018.

Instead, the Leafs abiding by a Lamoriello principle, oddly enough took the time they had.

Victorious in the Tavares sweepstakes with a seven-year, $77 million deal on July 1, the Leafs shifted their priority to Nylander, who still needed a new contract after Lamoriello failed to get one done in his last year as GM.

Marner had posted 69 points as a sophomore for the Leafs and might have agreed to an eight-year, $64 million extension that summer.

The math quickly changed as he leapt into stardom.

On the same February day in 2019 that Matthews signed a five-year, $58 million contract extension with the Leafs, Marners agent, Darren Ferris, told The Toronto Star that the team had lowballed his client in extension talks.

Marner picked up his playoff heroics in the spring of 2019.

He scored twice in a Game 1 win over the Bruins and stepped in front of two shots to preserve a Game 3 victory.

That series though, which featured another Nazem Kadri misdeed that resulted in suspension, got away from the Leafs in seven games.

Marners contract and the noise around it became the lingering story of the 2019 offseason.

Ferris was a feisty, combative negotiator.

Talks grew increasingly contentious.

The Leafs were eventually prepared to pay Marner about as much as Matthews and Tavares, with a seven- or eight-year contract that included a cap hit of $11 million.

Those deals, which would have made Marner one of the highest-paid players in the league, were turned down.

Vitriol for Marner, his dad and Ferris bubbled on social media at a time when Marner, only 22, struggled to escape it.

The two sides compromised on a six-year contract with a cap hit of $10.9 million after Marner missed the first day of training camp, which was held in Newfoundland that season.

Advertisement I think Mitch would want more and we would want (the deal to be) less, said Dubas, speaking next to Marner, at the Double IcePlex in Paradise, Nfld.

But its something that we both agree on and move ahead with.

It was an imperfect solution, a relative failure for both sides, and perhaps the turning point of the Marner era.

Still new in his role as GM at that point, Dubas conceded that he made mistakes as he learned on the job, including the Marner negotiations.

I wish everything was done with all of them in one day, he said.

In other words, he regretted not pursuing extensions for Marner, Matthews and Nylander sooner, and landing more team-friendly deals in the process.

He would describe it later as the biggest mistake of his Leafs tenure.

It was a mistake that took on greater significance when the salary cap remained flat.

History might have played out much differently had the team and its GM somehow latched Marner onto something like an eight-year deal with an $8 million cap hit.

The Leafs might have kept Hyman after all in the summer of 2021.

And maybe, with roughly $3 million extra to spare, they could have deepened their forward group and/or upgraded the back end in a more substantial way.

Marner would have been a hero in that world; the star who was underpaid, the star who took less something Shanahan once insisted would be expected of players in Toronto.

Pressure might have been lifted.

Maybe the playoff failures would have been a different story.

In that alternate reality, Marner would still have time remaining on his contract today.

Thats what Marner and the people around him missed in trying to chase Matthews and Tavares money.

Instead, fairly or not, he came to represent something different, something less appealing, something greedier even if he was just doing what his co-stars had done before him.

Advertisement Im from Toronto, Marner said after the deal was done.

I live here and I play here as well, so I mean, theres pressure in that always.

You dont think about it.

You just go out there and play hockey like youve done your whole life.

Part three: The disappearance of joy The Leafs lost to an inferior Columbus Blue Jackets team the following postseason, after which Dubas blasted any and all critics after Marner struggled to produce offence.

I dont know where all this started with the criticizing of Mitch Marner, he said.

But to me, its among the most idiotic things that I see done here.

The following spring, when the path to the Stanley Cup Final appeared as frictionless as ever in the pandemic-shortened season, the Leafs built a 3-1 series lead against another team with lesser talent, Montreal, only to completely unravel in seven games.

Nylander, who had quickly become underpaid with his $6.9 million cap hit, shined with five goals and eight points in the series.

And while Matthews, playing alongside Marner, beat Carey Price only once, he also had scored an astounding 41 goals in 52 games during the regular season, which earned him the first Rocket Richard Trophy by a Leaf and a second-place finish for MVP.

Tavares was hurt for all but three minutes of the series.

It meant that the brunt of the criticism for the loss fell on Marner, who in the not-so-distant aftermath of the contract drama failed to score and produced only a single point in the final three losses.

More than that, Marner appeared tight and tense as the pressure rose on the ice and behind the scenes.

The joy usually present in his demeanour disappeared.

In conversation with The Athletic that fall, Marner spoke about his efforts to rediscover that joy with counsel from Greg Harden, the famed Tom Brady whisperer who had joined the team as a Peak Performance Coach.

Harden believed in controlling the controllables, which, for Marner, was trying to be the best player I can be, bring the energy, have a lot of joy.

Advertisement Just stay in that moment, stay in that joy, and embrace it, he said.

The result: The finest season (still) of Marners NHL career, a 35-goal, 97-point (in only 72 games) two-way masterpiece that helped the Leafs to a franchise-record 115 points.

His performance, which failed to draw even one vote for MVP, fell in the shadow of his teammate.

Matthews set a franchise record with 60 goals and became the first Leaf since 1955 to win the Hart as MVP.

The Leafs outplayed the reigning Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round that spring, but still lost in seven games.

Were getting sick and tired of feeling like this, Marner said after the sixth consecutive first-round defeat.

A poor start to the following season for both Marner and the Leafs put Sheldon Keefe, who replaced Babcock as coach not long after Marner signed his second contract, on the hot seat.

The Leafs had dropped three games in a row when Keefe briefly benched Marner following a turnover during an overtime loss in Anaheim.

Marner, likely never benched in his life previously, thundered down the tunnel to the dressing room and smashed his stick in frustration.

We started off a lot worse last year and everyone tried to put shambles in our brains, he said in a tense post-game media scrum.

Its not gonna happen with us.

Asked who he meant by everyone, Marner responded, Outside noise.

Its big in Toronto especially.

Marner could be personable, even charming, in one-on-one media interviews, especially as he got older.

But in the big scrums where so much of that work gets done in Toronto, he often came across as stilted and uncomfortable.

What he often meant to say came out wrong, which led to his words taking on a life of their own.

Those storms would lead to the occasional media blackout, with any and all Marner requests denied for days at a time.

Advertisement Things turned around, for both player and team, that season.

The Leafs piled up 111 points.

Marner recorded 99 points and a league-best 104 takeaways.

He became the first Leaf since Gilmour in 1994 to be nominated for the Selke Trophy as the NHLs top defensive forward.

This time, another first-round series with Tampa went the Leafs way.

The joy of the first playoff round won since 2004 was quickly replaced by dismay when the team was erased by the Florida Panthers in five games as the stars Marner included were shut down.

Dubas hinted at finally changing the core as a result in an emotional season-ending news conference.

Full no-trade protection wouldnt kick in on Matthews, Marner and Nylanders contracts until July 1.

At locker cleanout day, Marner gushed about being a Leaf and left no doubt that he wished to stay.

You feel very lucky to be able to wear this jersey, Marner said.

Im definitely very lucky and dont take it for granted ever and appreciate it all.

But Marner, with two years remaining on his contract, was the most logical star to trade and might have fetched a significant return.

There would be no trade.

Dubas was fired, suddenly, by Shanahan in the midst of contract negotiations and the front office, newly run by Brad Treliving, quickly made it clear to a befuddled Toronto market that the Leafs would be running it back.

It was a decision that surrendered any and all control over Marners future to Marner.

It would backfire .

Part four: The final act Marner returned looking unhappy and disconnected in the fall of 2023.

He still tossed pucks to excited fans holding signs at every pre-game warmup.

His apparent joy for the game, though, seemed to be missing.

Before the Leafs played in Chicago in late November, Keefe noted that Marner wasnt executing at the level that youd expect from Mitch , and hadnt found his groove here yet.

Advertisement Following the game, the Leafs coach quickly walked back his comments lets not pile on the negatives here just as he had a year earlier when, after critiquing the performance of the teams elite players following a loss to Arizona, Marner appeared noticeably stung.

Criticism seemed to irk Marner in a way it didnt with the teams other stars.

Again the playoffs came and again he and the Leafs disappointed, once more in seven-game fashion to the Bruins.

Afterward, Marner tried to describe how appreciated members of the Leafs felt in Toronto, that they were looked upon as kind of gods here, to be honest.

It was another remark, however well-intended, that blew up amid intensifying criticism following another playoff failure.

It felt, again, like an inevitability that the Leafs would move on from Marner, or at least seriously explore the possibility.

Marner had struggled to make a superstar impact in the playoffs (albeit in a demanding defensive role) and no longer appeared happy playing for his hometown team.

It became clear that the team had decided to move forward with their star winger yet again when Marner was spotted having coffee with Craig Berube soon after he was hired as head coach.

Whether they seriously wrestled with the possibility of moving on is a matter of perspective.

The Leafs talked to rival teams that might have interest in acquiring Marner and might be of interest to Marner himself, who had full say on any trade.

They concluded that those teams were either cap-strapped and/or unwilling to deal what the Leafs considered to be fair value in return, opting against confrontation that might have forced a trade.

On the first day of what would be his final training camp as a Leaf, Marner said he wouldnt discuss his expiring contract or negotiations on a new one.

It turned out he wouldnt discuss it much privately either, spurning the teams attempt to talk extension.

Advertisement Fearful that he would leave for nothing but cap space following the season, the front office, after years of general resistance to the idea, tried to trade Marner at the trade deadline for Mikko Rantanen.

With a pregnant wife at home and full control over the matter, Marner turned down a move.

We want Mitch here for a long time, Treliving said in Utah a day after the stunning news leaked.

When asked later about the teams willingness to make such a request, Marner was succinct, telling The Athletic , Its a business out there.

I know whats going on.

Im just here to play hockey.

Marner reached 100 points for the first time, joining Gilmour, Matthews and Darryl Sittler as the only Leafs to do so.

But it felt a little hollow, with all signs pointing to an imminent exit.

In the playoffs, the Leafs wormed their way around the Ottawa Senators in the first round and built up a 2-0 series lead against the Panthers only to fritter it away in devastating fashion.

Marner again failed to produce when the Leafs needed him most.

He didnt record a point in the final three losses, including in a Game 7 blowout.

It turned out to be his last game as a Leaf.

This was no fairytale.

Instead, the story ended with everybody involved unhappy, unfulfilled and likely full of regret.

The Leafs saw the signs of discontent and chose to ignore them rather than moving on from Marner when they had the chance.

They believed, wrongly in the end, that Marners talent was too awesome to dispel, and that eventually he and the others would reward their unyielding faith.

Marner may yet find happiness and fulfillment in Vegas, but he could have been a legend with the Leafs.

Instead, despite regular-season success, the Marner era in Toronto will be remembered for playoff failures.

In the near-term, hell likely be seen as a villain .

In the aftermath of this most recent playoff defeat, Marner struck a different tone than he had in the past.

He spoke in the past tense.

He loved his time here.

He loved being here.

He just didnt want to stay.

(Top photo: Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images).

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