Recent Photograph of Leafs' Marner, Tavares, Matthews Going Viral for Ridiculous Reason

Recent photo of Maple Leafs stars Mitch Marner, John Tavares and Auston Matthews has created a bit of a stir on social media for a pretty ridiculous reason.

In the wake of another disappointing playoff exit for the Maple Leafs, we are expected to see a lot of turnover in Toronto this summer, and with a MLSE board meeting scheduled to take place on Thursday, the fireworks could pop off as early as today.

Not only is it expected that the core in Toronto will finally be split up, but the changes could also be felt at the top of the organization, with President Brendan Shanahan appearing to be on the outs after being granted permission to speak with the New York Islanders about a job offer.

Mitch Marner and John Tavares, who are slated to become unrestricted free agents on July 1st, appear to have very different trajectories. For Marner, a new start elsewhere seems to be the most-likely outcome. In Tavares' case, some progress has already been made on a possible extension.

After a few days of reflecting following Sunday's Game 7 loss to the Florida Panthers, you knew it was only a matter of time before the players were spotted on the golf course.

On Thursday, a photo from an Ottawa Senators fan emerged showing Matthews, Marner and Tavares out with a number of friends and teammates, including Jake McCabe and Max Domi, in Caledon at Pulpit Golf Club, and the post already has more than 560,000 views.

https://x.com/NorrisWinner/status/1925352722485682199

The comments section was filled not only with personal attacks directed at the Leafs, but also plenty of comments from Leafs fans who were quick to point out that the Senators have already been golfing for weeks.

Players are still people, and at the end of the day, going out golfing with your friends is a healthy coping mechanism after such a disappointing situation.

I've never understood the instant vitriol directed at players for trying to move on with their lives and coping after coming up short in the playoffs. Yes, it's disappointing, but we shouldn't expect these guys to lock themselves in their homes and stew over something they can't change.

Hopefully the players enjoy some time together prior to all of these changes that are expected to occur in the coming weeks. Yes, they're well-paid players, but they're people too, and golfing to reduce stress seems completely healthy and reasonable to me.