The Mitchell Marner ordeal came to a close last week.
But had negotiations between the superstar winger and the Toronto Maple Leafs stretched on to near the start of the 2019-20 NHL season, there’s a good chance they would’ve gotten even more complicated.
Marner’s agent, Darren Ferris, said in an appearance on Sportsnet 590’s Prime Time Sports on Monday that an offer sheet would’ve increasingly been a factor had the two parties not agreed to a deal around Oct. 2.
“As far as the offer-sheet scenario, that was something that was a real possibility during the summer and very likely at the start of the season had it dragged on,” said Ferris.
“But, again, no one had the intention of that, and Mitch’s goal was to sign with the Leafs and play with Leafs.”
Marner signed a six-year deal with an average annual value of $10.893 million with Toronto on Friday.
Ferris said on Sportsnet 650’s Starting Lineup earlier Monday that his client received a couple of offer sheets while he was a restricted free agent and that Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas was aware, but he could not disclose the teams involved.
Ferris said on PTS that discussions between Marner and the Leafs got “serious” as soon as the 2018-19 season came to a close and they were in “continuous communication.”
“Could we have done things differently? Maybe? As (Dubas) said I think we both learn things as we go along, whenever there’s some misjudgments made or anything along those lines,” remarked Ferris.
“But realistically, we’re happy to get it and it’s over with. And Mitch is happy and the team is happy. And we can look forward now to possibly winning a Cup here.”
Marner, 22, finished 11th in league scoring and led the Leafs with 94 points in 2018-19.
The fourth-overall pick in the 2015 NHL Draft has recorded 224 points across three seasons and 241 games in the NHL.
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