The Toronto Maple Leafs haven't had the season they wanted, although they may be heating up just a bit.
It's not just Maple Leafs fans who have noticed, either.
Brad Marchand, the long-time Boston Bruins star who is now with the Florida Panthers, has noticed, too.
He was asked about the Leafs on Tuesday, and this is what he had to say, according to The Athletic's Chris Johnston:
"It's unfortunate the fans ran Marner out of town. I mean that's a huge impact on their group. He's a point per game player, that hurts."
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The Marner situation was definitely an odd one.
He made it pretty clear early in the process leading toward free agency that he wouldn't be signing an extension to stay in Toronto.
He wanted a fresh start, evidently away from home.
Marner ended up setting the Maple Leafs up to do a sign-and-trade with the Vegas Golden Knights, a deal that brought Nicolas Roy back to Toronto but lost one of the best two-way players in the NHL.
There's really nothing that Marner should've gotten hate for. This is a guy so committed to helping the team that in a game the Maple Leafs lost a defenseman to injury, Marner took shifts on defense.
And yet there he was, wanting to leave. He got his wish, and the Maple Leafs are worse off for it.
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