Toronto Maple Leafs: What did Mitch Marner’s agent accomplish with comments?

After Auston Matthews signed his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs, the pressure has shifted to Mitch Marner, with agent Darren Ferris’ comments not helping matters.

If Toronto Maple Leafs fans have learned anything the past couple of days it’s that Mitch Marner‘s agent Darren Ferris is not afraid to speak his mind and this time around it came back to bite him.

After telling Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star that his client was being “lowballed” by the Leafs during negotiations, Ferris has had to do some damage control, telling local radio stations the comments were in reference to summer negotiations. The agent also made it clear the deal Auston Matthews signed was not seen as a team-friendly discount and Marner was not going to be doing the team any favours this time around.

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As Tip of the Tower contributor Kurt Hill wrote in his latest article, there’s no way of knowing whether the Leafs did lowball Marner while discussing a contract in the summer. Kurt also points out the unnecessary attention Ferris is bringing towards Marner with his comments.

It is ironic for an agent to say he does not want the contract negotiations to be a distraction for his client and then proceeds to put a target on his head. Either he needs to be more cautious with what he says in the media, or the Marner camp needs to get this deal done sooner rather than later.

"“You guys (media), words are spun sometimes,” Marner told Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star. “Me and my family love it here. My agency loves it here. This is a great place to play hockey. We have great management. We have a great team in this locker room. We all want, including myself, to be a Leaf for a long time.”"

Ferris has tried to backtrack on his comments saying negotiations were ended on a positive note, but it doesn’t change his viewpoint and what Marner’s might be. This was never going to be an easy negotiation and leaving them until the summer won’t make it any easier.

Did Marner’s camp accomplish anything to help their position? They’ve made it clear that Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas is in for a tough negotiation and are hoping the market can help them.

At least the agent now knows he won’t be able to use the media as a negotiation tool, as his attempt to get pity for what he believed was “lowballing” didn’t work in his favour. You also wonder if Marner and his father Paul spoke with Ferris and had any role in the agent going on TSN 1050 and Fan 590 to try and clear the air.

Down Goes Brown had a great tweet about Marner’s situation and how ridiculous it is for a player with an agent to not negotiate during a season. Realistically, the agent should be doing most of the work and present his client with what he believes is the best offer.

It is a great negotiation tactic because Marner has certainly raised his value with his play this season and maybe the Leafs were better off getting him signed in the summer, but it doesn’t sound like the team or the player seemed too eager to get it done.

If you also look back on Ferris’ past history with clients like Andreas Athanasiou and Josh Anderson, they’ve had their fair share of battles with management. Hopefully for Marner’s sake, this won’t be the case.

At least Dubas will be battle-tested as he has been through discussions with John Tavares, William Nylander and Matthews. Those are not easy contracts to get done and the Leafs GM has been able to get it resolved over the past few months.

What do you think about Ferris’ comments and going on the radio to backtrack? Is this a sign of more to come? Let us know in the comments below.