Marner and His Agent Are Still Crying

Mitch Marner did not leave Toronto gracefully. His exit from the Toronto Maple Leafs has been well documented. However, some say there is a lot more to the situation that led to the messy fallout between the two parties than meets the eye.

Marner’s agent, Darren Ferris, joined The PuckPedia Hockey Show to talk about some of his clients, including Marner, and how things fell apart in Toronto.

“It’s unfortunate in Toronto the way things went right from the get-go,” said Ferris. “I think people think this whole story with Mitch started with his contract negotiation. That’s not really where it started.”

“Back when he first signed with the Leafs, at his entry level, they did not want him to have performance bonuses in there. Mitch decided he would help the team out. They asked him to. I had some pressure from guys that were working for the London Knights and also working for the Leafs pressuring him to sign. And eventually Mitch just told me, ‘Darren, I want to sign this’. So against my wishes, he did.”

This is where I say that Ferris is full of crap. He, along with many others, knew that Lou Lamoriello was against giving out performance bonuses. During Lamoriello’s tenure as general manager of the Maple Leafs, he, as expected, refused to give rookies significant performance bonuses.

He held firm to that practice with both Marner and fellow Leafs top prospect William Nylander. However, both players were still given $850,000 in performance bonuses. So, it’s not like they didn’t get anything.

However, that changed in 2016, when Lamoriello gave first-overall pick Auston Matthews $2.85 million in performance bonuses. A move that apparently did not sit well with Marner and Ferris.

Marner Upset with Matthews Getting More in Performance Bonuses

“They promised nobody would get performance bonuses,” said Ferris. “As you know, they didn’t fulfill that. He soon found out that a promise that isn’t in the contract isn’t a promise; it’s a tactic. So nobody ever talks about the fact that Mitch did the team a favor back then.”

For starters, Marner was entering his ELC, and it’s not doing the team a favor by signing with minimal performance bonuses. He was a rookie, and thus didn’t earn the right to have such demands on his first contract. Marner’s problem was having Ferris and his own father in his ear telling him to demand more.

The problem really escalated in 2019, when Marner’s ELC was up, and he needed a new contract. After Matthews had signed a deal with a $11.639 million cap hit earlier in the season, Marner, through Ferris, insisted on a similar price. He refused to budge after feeling mistreated with his ELC. That negotiation became somewhat public, thanks to Ferris and Marner’s father. The situation didn’t sit well with the fans.

Ferris Blames the Fans

“There was a lot of misinformation, which just kept spiraling into a lot of information that made him the villain here in the city to that point,” said Ferris. “To this day, I think that he still gets attacked. I think the majority of people support him, but there’s always those that are fanatic about it. Frankly, as time went on, Mitch became the focus of everything, scrutinized for every game, him and his family criticized after every loss, and at points receiving threats on social media, which was disturbing. I received plenty of disparaging comments and misguided reports myself. You’ve got to remember Mitch was carjacked in Toronto.”

Ferris and Marner’s father should have never made the contract negotiations public. They have only themselves to blame for the negative reaction by fans. Saying Marner getting carjacked in Toronto is somehow related in any way is total BS. Toronto was dealing with a string of carjackings around that time. He just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time with his luxury vehicle.

It’s time for Ferris and Marner to let it go. Put the situation in the rearview mirror and move on already.