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Elliotte Friedman Drops Bombshell Report on the Toronto Maple Leafs Keeping Mitch Marner
Mitch Marner is now with the Las Vegas Golden Knights, although according to Elliotte Friedman, there is a world in which the Toronto Maple Leafs could have kept him.
Toronto Maple Leafs fans have been quick to lament the departure of Mitch Marner, who some felt was going to be with the team until he retired.
Of course, that did not happen as Marner left the Leafs for the Las Vegas Golden Knights in free agency. It was a sad yet expected outcome given all the reports that were circulating.
Now, Marner is gearing up for his first season in Las Vegas, and there is no denying that there will be tons of fanfare around his debut.
As for the Toronto Maple Leafs, they are still in the midst of looking for Marner's replacement, and so far, they have been fairly unsuccessful.
Mitch Marner and the Toronto Maple Leafs
To make matters worse for the Leafs, it appears as though there was a very real scenario in which they kept Marner on the roster.
According to Elliotte Friedman of '32 Thoughts,' had the Maple Leafs won Game 7 against the Florida Panthers, Mitch Marner would still be on the roster.
All I can say is this, Kyle... there are other players who feel that when Marner didn't sign last summer that the writing was on the wall. My position is this: if they beat Florida in the second round -- which they should have done -- I don't see how Mitch Marner isn't in Toronto... I just don't see a way, if they beat Florida, that Mitch Marner doesn't find a way to re-sign in Toronto and the Maple Leafs don't find a way to sign Marner.
Playing the 'what if' game is going to be toxic if you are a Maple Leafs fan, so it is best that you just accept the cards you are dealt and deal with them.
Having said that, the Toronto Maple Leafs are going to be in tough this season, and there is no telling how things are going to go for them moving forward.
Winning the Atlantic Division is not going to be easy, and there is a chance that they are relegated to being a Wild Card team.
Either way, the Maple Leafs need to leave Mitch Marner in the past, and simply do what they need to win games.
| POLL | ||
AOUT 23 | 136 ANSWERS Elliotte Friedman Drops Bombshell Report on the Toronto Maple Leafs Keeping Mitch Marner Do you believe the Toronto Maple Leafs really could have kept Mitch Marner? | ||
| YES | 58 | 42.6 % |
| NO | 78 | 57.4 % |
| List of polls | ||