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Vegas Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner stoked some serious backlash with his comments recently that looked to be a direct shot at the Maple Leafs and captain Auston Matthews.
With Mitch Marner headed to Vegas this past summer, it put an end to the Core Four era in Toronto and gave Marner exactly what he wanted, which was a ton of money and the chance to be a star with way less media pressure.
His decision, while bothersome to many, is his to make and while he is having a solid start to his career in Vegas, Matthews has also dominated thus far through five games.
However, Marner decided that he wasn’t done taking potshots at the Maple Leafs, and directed a fairly cheap shot at their beloved captain.
Speaking to reporters, Marner explained that young Vegas star Pavel Dorofayev was an incredible goal scorer, but may have made a lot of fans angry in doing so:
Marner said that Dorofeyev was one of the best goal scoeres he has ever seen, and that’s a lot of praise towards the young forward given exactly who Marner played with in his career.
Marner’s Praise for His Vegas Teammate Didn’t Sit Well With Leafs Fans
Yes there is definitely a compliment towards Dorofeyev, however it’s definitely a cheap shot towards Matthews and other guys like William Nylander and John Tavares.
Those ‘special ones’ made Marner better by proxy, and he didn’t seem to mind getting a ton of points, but when things got tough he tended to run away.
Much like he ran to Vegas when things got tough with the media pressure, it’t not like he’s come out of the gates swinging with only four assists (three secondary) and nothing on the power play.
Meanwhile Dorofeyev have four goals on the power play alone thanks to Jack Eichel and Mark Stone, so where exactly Marner has been on the ice enough to see Dorofayev succeed is undetermined.He must be chasing more points considering his demotion to the second line in Vegas which allowed him to play with Dorofayev more consistently. We know that the Marner camp isn’t shy about letting people know what they want, so it may have forced coach Bruce Cassidy’s hand.
Maple Leafs fans were having none of it either:
One Maple Leafs fan summed it up the best, and gave us the reaction that we all probably pulled hearing Marner’s comments:
It’s yet more fuel for the fire which will eventually lead to a whirlwind of emotions when Marner makes his return to Toronto.
Just don’t expect Matthews or anyone else to take too kindly to him for his attitude before and after leaving the Maple Leafs.
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Mitch Marner’s Vegas Comment Has Leafs Fans Saying He Took a Shot at Auston Matthews
Do you think Mitch Marner took a cheap shot at Auston Matthews