Bourne: New contract says a lot about how Maple Leafs feel about Mitch Marner and their future

Almost exactly three years ago I was scrambling to set up the Maple Leafs necessary video technology in the London Knights dressing room before some preseason hockey, which meant I found myself running out for equipment through the dressing room and back to the coaches office nearly a dozen times during one struggle-fest of a day.

It was on those trips I had an observation: It was just never quiet around Mitch Marner’s stall, usually with laughter. The pulse of that place, the beating heart of its energy was plain to see. It was to be his first year in blue and white, but his comfort level belied that of a five-year vet. It’s not like he wanted attention, or his prospect hype brought people around, or anything like that. It was simply that Mitch is an energetic, engaging dude that people like to be around and work with. The tentacles of his energy reached everywhere around him.

This isn’t going to be a piece about how wonderful Marner is so we should turn a blind eye to the eyebrow-raising RFA money simply because he does some good hockey and people like him or whatever. He signed a deal worth more money than he could’ve been had for, had his boss had different priorities. Priorities like, say, “winning” that deal. I think even his boss would tell you that.

This piece isn’t to “well actually the contract is good” the whole thing either. Our own Dom Luszczyszyn will have more on the “tangible facts only” angle later, which I believe will lay out that the output needed to justify the deal is well within Marner’s grasp, so you can have that fight over there.

What I do want to do is explain why the Leafs felt it was so important to perceptually lose a deal to have the player and have him through camp and this year and through his prime, despite being well aware they could grind the dollars and cents somewhere more in line with public sentiment and league-wide comparables.

Simply put: Marner and Auston Matthews are, at this point, the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team will go as far as they take them. Yes, there are other big names and fringe stars and important people, but it needs to be understood just what an important piece Marner is to the 2019-20 blueprint and beyond.

The impact Marner has on the energy of the room and on the group each day is immeasurably important, particularly given their high-pressure environment.

He makes coming to the rink great for his teammates and staff, and that’s valued by the group. It’s such a big part of what he brings that team. Maybe we’ll get to the point where we can cleanly measure a player’s tangible impact to his teammates on the ice, but it goes further than that. Step back and think about your own work environment. Is there a person, or persons you consider “energy sucks” around you? And are there people whose energy you feed off? Do you do better work not just with, but around certain people? Do you believe that workplace environment has an effect on what you do? I’d say that anyone who’s been a part of a team, any team at all, would say that yes, there are people who can pull a group in either direction. And I’m telling you, the Leafs believe Marner isn’t just important in that way, he may be the most important person they have in that way. Do with that information what you will.

Whatever you think of the deal (you think it’s for too much, I know), the Leafs have made some pretty clear bets here — which is so rare it should be fascinating fun for the fans — and what they’ve done with the Marner deal is at least give those bets a chance to pan out. They’ve bet on skill, and on an elite core taking precedence over “pretty good top to bottom.”

With the core of Matthews, Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander, Morgan Rielly and Frederik Andersen, they’re at least being given the chance to find out if they’re good enough, from the moulds of the Penguins, Blackhawks, Kings and Bruins over the past dozen years. They’re giving their long-term vision a legitimate shot to come to fruition. It would’ve been easy to get close to that plan and change course over the Marner drama, over the Nylander holdout, over public pressure in general. The hard thing here has likely been sticking to what they were trying to build years ago and seeing it through.

They’re getting to do that now and suddenly it’s up to the area where GM Kyle Dubas believes – and has backed up that belief with investments of time and money – teams can find inefficiencies to nimbly build on their foundation at the fringes. This is where bets on ageing talents on one-year deals (a la Jason Spezza) matter. This is where signing guys just happy to be in the league for league minimum for two years (a la Trevor Moore) can pay off. This is where they hope finding guys on the cheap overseas can help. This is where they hope giving prime-age AHL scorers and fringe NHLers a chance can help. When you have a talented core locked up, this is where having someone invested in data and in finding that extra two percent can hopefully pay off.

There are conversations to be had about the Marner deal that are relevant and important, at least when it comes to analyzing pro sports. The Leafs complicated cap situation combined with a complicated CBA put some pressure on the team to make things happen with their Marner-included vision, and happen now. The Nylander situation and his flop of a year made them want to make things happen and happen now. They were pressed by a number of things, and in the end, signed a deal for more money than most thought reasonable. You don’t have to like where those circumstances saw the deal wind up when you look at that deal in a vacuum.

That deal didn’t happen in a vacuum though, and all the ensuing deals — from Jake Muzzin on down to Tyson Barrie and the rest of their massive roster overturn — happened with the design of Marner in the fold. Those all become null and void if the Leafs didn’t find a way to get this done.

All the Leafs really know – on top of what a ridiculously good player the guy is — is what I noticed three years ago when Marner wasn’t even officially yet a Maple Leaf. They know his energy and what he means to what other people are is just so important to what this team can be. Maybe they don’t get there, but they know they’ll have wasted everyone’s time if they didn’t at least give it a chance. Win, lose, or otherwise, the Leafs had a plan and they’ve seen it through. Fans can take comfort in the fact that the team had a clear vision and has been able to execute their design.

And now, the fun starts. Maybe not quite yet, but soon anyway, we’ll get to talk about actual hockey with the Leafs prime-age core healthy and starting the season together from Day 1. There’s no more room for excuses. Maybe it won’t be good enough but at least they’re giving it a chance to find out.