Darren Ferris, agent of star Toronto Maple Leafs winger Mitchell Marner, ignited a firestorm on Tuesday with comments he made to the Toronto Star’s Dave Feschuk.
“So far they’ve been trying to lowball [Marner],” Ferris told the Star columnist.
This, of course, is coming on the heels of fellow young Leafs stars Auston Matthews and William Nylander both signing big-money extensions that Ferris doesn’t believe to be team-friendly, putting his client — who just happened to be the team’s leading scorer last season and is doing so again this season — in a position to make the sacrifice on his contract negotiation.
Speaking to Feschuk, Ferris claimed Marner has already done the Leafs a “favour” on his entry-level contract, with Feschuk citing the fact Matthews got both the Schedule A and B bonuses and Marner only received the Schedule A one.
However that claim wasn’t entirely accurate, according to Ferris, who clarified his comments to Sportsnet’s Jeff Blair on Wednesday.
“Just to clarify that, Mitch did get B bonuses, but the extended B they didn’t do for him which they did for Auston. Those are unattainable bonuses for many of the league awards, and that’s what I was referring to in terms of ‘doing a favour,’” Ferris told Blair on Sportsnet 590 the FAN.
Speaking to Blair, Ferris wanted to drive home two important points in regards to Feschuk’s explosive column: These were comments he made to Feschuk in reference to a discussion during the summer, and that the bleak picture that’s painted in regards to negotiation between Marner and the Leafs isn’t a proper representation of where the two sides currently stand.
Even though Ferris admits he hasn’t really sat down to hash out a serious offer with Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas, he says the two remain in close, amiable contact and that things are looking up.
“Let me tell you, that things are positive,” Ferris said. “The dialogue’s positive, the discussions are going in the right direction since that day. We’re not far off from when we left off a while ago, we last ended off a while ago. We last ended on a positive note.
“Kyle agreed with me to wait until the end of the season, which was Mitch’s desire to wait because if it couldn’t get done he didn’t want the distraction during the season. He just wanted to play, help his team get in the playoffs and hopefully win a Stanley Cup.
“I can tell you that everything’s been positive,” Ferris added. “The dialogue’s been positive, the discussions have been going in the right direction and Mitch will be a Leaf for a long time, I’m sure, and everything will work out.”
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