"You can only control so much” - Auston Matthews speaks out on Mitch Marner's contract situation with Maple Leafs

By Evan Bell

Modified Sep 18, 2024 15:44 GMT

This summer, Auston Matthews was named captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs, replacing John Tavares, who had been captain of the franchise since 2019. While the Maple Leafs front office made a big decision regarding who will be the captain of the team heading into the 2024-25 season, they have made little progress on a Mitch Marner contract extension.

Marner is currently heading into the final year of his six-year extension signed before the 2019-20 season, which has seen him earn up to $10.9 million per year. While he has made it clear that he wants to remain with the franchise, he's entering the final year of his deal without an extension in place.

If the two sides don't work out a deal before next summer, Marner will become an unrestricted free agent. While speaking to media members this week ahead of the team's first preseason game on Sunday, Sept. 22, Auston Matthews spoke about the situation:

"I think he's dealt with it great," Matthews said. "I mean, I think he's had a great summer. I think with. With all the noise, you can only control so much. So I think he's put in a lot of work. He looks great on the ice. Off the ice, focused. And, we're all here to support him and as teammates and as a team.

"So I don't think that stuff's really affected him or is going to affect him much at all. He's an amazing teammate and amazing person, and he's a great player for our team. Looking forward to playing with him again."

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"I'm here to talk about the season," - Mitch Marner shuts down questions regarding contract extension after Auston Matthews' comments

During the Toronto Maple Leafs media scrum on Wednesday prior to the start of training camp, newly minted captain Auston Matthews kicked things off. Following the three-time NHL goals leader, Mitch Marner then took the stage, fielding questions from media members.

However, before media members were able to ask him any questions, Marner made it clear that he had no plans to field questions regarding his contract situation.

"Obviously [I] know there's gonna be some contract questions, but not here to talk about that," Marner said. "You know, like I said ... Very happy to be a Maple Leaf. It's an unbelievable privilege, but I'm not here to talk about that. I'm here to talk about the season and getting going."

While Marner had little interest in discussing his contract extension, and instead is focused on chasing a Stanley Cup alongside Auston Matthews, reports from earlier this month indicated that Marner's team and the Maple Leafs have been in discussions about an extension.

At the time, as TSN's Darren Dreger reported at the start of September, the two sides don't appear to be in a rush to get things figured out before the start of the season.