The focal point of the first day of Toronto Maple Leafs of training camp in Newfoundland was on the ice, as head coach Mike Babcock put together line combinations and defensive pairings for the first time, but the chatter involving winger Mitch Marner has been amplified.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman indicated on FAN 590 Friday that the reports of Marner being offered a long-term deal at $11 Million spurred the two sides to restart contract talks and his colleague Chris Johnston reported that there has been some progress made.
Friedman and The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun stated that the potential AAV on a six-year deal would be under $11 Million per season, while John Shannon said that the numbers were off.
TSN’s Darren Dreger expressed the least amount of optimism regarding a resolution to the situation, saying that the negotiations are at a pivotal point and that while a deal could be consummated this week, it could also have a setback that would result in a continuation of the impasse into the regular season.
It behooves GM Kyle Dubas to try to close out this process as soon as possible to eliminate the distraction of the contract impasse, but not to the point that the Leafs capitulate and make a bad deal. Marner is an important piece of the Toronto puzzle and the club cannot afford to be without him, but there has to be a meeting of the minds and some compromise on both sides to get a deal done, but if the Marner camp continues their stance being paid on par with Auston Matthews, the Leafs may have to start looking more realistically at trade options for the 22-year-old.
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Some interesting line combos for the Leafs on Day 1 in Paradise, NL. Auston Matthews unsurprisingly centered wingers Andreas Johnsson and William Nylander, while Kasperi Kapanen skated on the left side with Adam Brooks (taking the place of new daddy John Tavares) and Jeremy Bracco (who was subbing for Marner).
Newcomer Ilya Mikheyev skated at left wing with center Alex Kerfoot and Nic Petan and veteran Jason Spezza centered Trevor Moore and Pontus Aberg.
On defense, the top two pairings were as expected, with Morgan Rielly partnered with Cody Ceci and Jake Muzzin alongside Tyson Barrie. Rookie blueliner Rasmus Sandin skated with newcomer Jordan Schmaltz, Finnish free agent Teemu Kivihalme with Timothy Liljegren and big Ben Harpur partnered with Martin Marincin.
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