Darren Ferris isn't pointing to last year's exit as the breaking point for Mitch Marner and believes the Maple Leafs mishandled Marner from day one, leading to him becoming the scapegoat for all of Toronto's misfortunes.
Marner's tenure with the Maple Leafs could be summed up differently depending on your perspective, but what isn't deniable is that he put up some of the best numbers in team history - ranking sixth all-time in points (741), 14th in goals (221) and fourth in assists (520).
But it had some tension towards the end and his departure was debated for quite some time before the majority of the fanbase focused on an era sans Marner.
Though if you were to ask his agent, Darren Ferris, he believes it started as soon as Marner signed his first contract.
Darren Ferris believes Toronto failed Mitch Marner long before he left for Vegas
Ferris was interviewed regarding Marner's time in Toronto, and over seven-and-a-half minutes revealed that the Maple Leafs didn't give Marner anything to work with at the start, and that he never got the security he felt he deserved:
He really bled for that team, and he was never protected by his organization in my opinion...When he first signed, in his entry-level deal they didn't want him to have performance bonuses. Against my best wishes [he signed], then he found out soon a promise isn't in the contract.
Indeed, Marner did not receive any performance bonuses in his first season, but actually did receive $850,000 the following three years for bonuses - it was just the first year.
What Ferris seemed to overlook however was the fact that William Nylander also didn't receive any bonuses in the first year of his deal, and we've never heard anything regarding his feelings towards that and it feels like a non-issue at this point.
The Maple Leafs' handling of Marner still raises some difficult questions
But Ferris didn't stop there, and mentioned that the fan reaction played a huge part in Marner leaving and another reason why Ferris points to a lack of protection:
Ferris pointed to the fan reaction: scrutiny after every game, criticism after losses, social media threats and brought up both when Marner was carjacked in 2022 and how he was singled out whenever the team fell short.
All of these things happened well before Marner had reached the end of his time in Toronto and it all culminated in him wanting to leave at the end of 2024-25. The carjacking incident happened in 2022, and the threats on social media stem from various playoff losses and games where fans felt he didn't perform up to their expectations.
Whether you're a Marner fan or not, that behaviour is unacceptable for any fanbase and Ferris gives a different perspective on things even if you may not agree. If Marner was feeling slighted the second he signed his deal, then it was a relationship destined to implode.
Mitch Marner was the poster child for Toronto's playoff failures over the last decade despite being the best statistically of the Core Four though didn't deserve nearly as much criticism as he got.
Ferris put it best when he stated that 'Hockey is a team sport, you can't just pinpoint one person.'
Maple Leafs fans did however, and it cost them one of the greatest players in team history.
Do you think Mitch Marner was unfairly treated in Toronto?
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