Nathan MacKinnon is sticking up for one of his good friends, Mitch Marner.
The reigning Hart Trophy winner and Marner skated together this summer in Vail, Colo., at a camp that included Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid.
Speaking at the NHL media tour in Las Vegas on Tuesday, MacKinnon said he thinks Marner should be mentioned more in discussions about the top players in the league today.
“It’s a hard league to win in and, obviously, I think Marner gets a lot of flak in Toronto, but he’s honestly one of the best players in the league,” MacKinnon said, according to Matt Larkin of Daily Faceoff. “I play with some of the best players in the league, and then I skate with Marnes, and he’s right up there with anyone. Especially at that Vail camp, there’s a lot of good players, and he’s stuck out as one of the best, for sure.”
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Marner’s future with the Maple Leafs was a hot topic all summer after a disappointing seven-game series loss to the Boston Bruins. In that series, the Maple Leafs were without stars Auston Matthews and William Nylander at different times due to injuries but the Bruins held Marner to just one goal and two assists.
The 27-year-old is entering the final year of his contract but with the rest of the core Maple Leafs already signed, Marner’s name has been floated as a possible trade candidate in order to shake up a roster that’s won just one series in eight-straight trips to the playoffs.
Despite all that, Marner remains a member of the Maple Leafs as training camps draw near and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported the winger is motivated to make a big impact this upcoming season.
“He knows this is all hovering around him, and he has been determined to have the best possible summer he can to be ready,” Friedman said of Marner on the most recent episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast. “I’ve heard he’s looked dynamite with Crosby and MacKinnon at this Vail camp. … I’m really curious to see this. I think he’s taken this summer very, very seriously.”
