Leafs star welcomed sports media to promote his Marner Assist Foundation in the past, but with questions surrounding his future with the club swirling, he’s changed course.
The sixth annual Marner All-Star Invitational took place in Toronto on Thursday and Friday. The event, as part of Mitch Marner's 'Marner Assist Foundation' charity helps “generate sustainable change for children and youth by providing resources that will make a significant impact on their lives” per its website. In all previous years (outside of COVID), Marner has opened up the event to the media, which included a red carpet availability. The Hockey News is one of the outlets that was happy to help promote it. In exchange, we asked about the latest Leafs storylines. It’s the usual give-and-take, interviewer/interviewee relationship, that is common practice.
But this year, Marner took a different approach. The tailgate party on Thursday night was closed to the media.
Local news stations were granted interviews on Friday, when the on-ice activities were held, with the understanding that they would keep the questions about the event. Both major sports networks (TSN and Sportsnet) were told not to attend.
Why the change? Presumably, it’s because of the added speculation around Marner, who has been eligible to sign a contract extension since July 1. He can become an unrestricted free agent at the end up the upcoming season.
With all the noise surrounding his future, it’s understandable why Marner may be reluctant to dive headfirst into the topic. But Marner himself never used to handle things this way. In 2019, the forward had just completed his third season in the NHL and was without a contract for the following year. He was asked about that at his charity event and politely referred questions to his agent, Darren Ferris.
Meanwhile, former Leafs forward Zach Hyman is holding his annual charity golf tournament on Monday and one of the guests featured Edmonton Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl. Like Marner, Draisaitl is eligible for a contract extension with his NHL club, but media have not been given any directive as to what can and can’t be asked.
Now, Marner is certainly entitled to pick and choose what he wants to do in this situation. It’s his event. It’s the offseason. That’s fine. But it is a notable change and seems to be part of a trend.
Marner declined requests to speak to reporters at times throughout last season and, at one point, we were told he was taking a “break” from the media. When he’s been asked about injuries or about other players struggling, he’s been combative while referencing outside noise.
On locker clean out day Marner said he loves playing in Toronto and wants to sign an extension. But the truth may be that Marner is simply no longer a good fit for this market.
