Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar stood up for Mitch Marner amid some criticism over his future status, and revealed what it's like playing with the superstar.
With the commotion surrounding Mitch Marner's future contract status, a lot of talk about what his true intentions are, and whether or not he's just trying to milk the Maple Leafs for more money is still up for debate.
But he's overall an exception player, and while his production during critical times hasn't exactly been stellar, he's proven he can make it count; such as when he was the catalyst for Connor McDavid's game-winner in overtime to give Canada the victory over the United States at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
It was there that Marner got to play with some of the best in the world, and on that list includes Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar.
The superstar blue liner has been the NHL's best in recent years, and feels like the second coming of Bobby Orr some nights.
Makar and Marner got acclimated quickly as teammates, and the Avs defender had nothing but high praise for the winger:
Very competitive, committed guy. I know all the media here tend to give a lot of guys a hard time. He's a really complete player ... Playing with him at the 4 Nations, I found that he was always in the right areas.
It's massive praise from one of the world's best, but does it have some ulterior motives behind it?
Mitch Marner: Perfect Teammate And Perfect For Colorado?
Makar and Marner were both instrumental in helping McDavid score the game-winner, and knew once he fed Marner the biscuit; it was a foregone conclusion:
He read the situation really well. For forwards, in general, your main goal is to find space on the ice and he's really good at doing that. He identified their D wasn't flexing him and stayed down low.
Marner deserves a lot of credit this season and really turned it up to the tune of 82 points in 66 games (21G, 61A) and has been the team's best player this year and stated repeatedly he wants to win here.
But he's also been very protective of his future status, and with the speculation that he wants to be the highest-paid Maple Leafs player; it's sending a lot of mixed signals to both the team and fans.
He could find himself a potential member of the Avalanche however, as the team has a ton of pending free agents and could go all-in with Marner and join the likes of Carolina, New York, and Chicago as potential landing spots.
Makar's praise is assuredly one of only several similar opinions regarding the Maple Leafs superstar; but he's one of the very few who have played with him outside of Toronto.
Maybe he's playing nice to see if Marner will take a look to the Rockies as a future home and reign with another two dangerous M's: Makar and MacKinnon.
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