Mitch Marner reiterates several times that he’s happy to be a Maple Leaf: ‘It’s my home’

Marner was recently lauded by Hart Trophy winner Nathan MacKinnon as he trained alongside the Colorado Avalanche superstar during the summer and was informed of their endorsement, while trying to stay off social media for the better part of two summers. The 27-year-old spoke about his internal maturation over the course of his career with the Maple Leafs and there was a lighter air around the team than in previous years, ostensibly due to a wave of changes made, both at the roster and management levels.

Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews came to Marner’s defence, when asked about how his teammate has dealt with incessant criticism over the offseason.

“I think he’s dealt with it great, I think he’s had a great summer,” Matthews said. “With all the noise, you can only control so much. He looks great on the ice, off the ice, and we’re all here to support him as teammates and as a team. I don’t think it has affected him, or it’s going to affect him at all. He’s an amazing person, an amazing teammate.”

“Like I’ve stated for a long time, growing up in this area, I’ve always been a Leafs fan. I’ve always wanted this team to succeed and win, to see what it would feel like fan-wise and now being a part of it is pretty special. I’ve stated it a lot of times: it’s obviously a very hard league, it’s a hard grind. There’s another 31 teams out there trying to do the exact same thing, so nothing’s ever easy.

“It’s my home. It’s the place I’ve grown up. I’ve had many, many memories of this team growing up playing Saturday night hockey with my family, in the family room sitting there for hours.”

Marner is entering this season is on the final season of his existing contract and there’s a natural inclination to be curious about his status, while the Maple Leafs pondered every possible avenue in trying to upgrade the roster. Ultimately, Brendan Shanahan and Brad Treliving decided that retaining Marner was the best pathway to winning, and this may be the last we hear from Toronto’s star winger about his contract status until a resolution is reached.