Photo credit: USA Today Sports

Nathan MacKinnon and Ryan Reaves called out Maple Leafs fans for their treatment of Mitch Marner this past summer after another failed playoff run.

During the NHL’s media tour prior to the start of training camp, MacKinnon defended Marner from all of the heat he had been taking from fans over the summer. On Tuesday, MacKinnon doubled-down on his comments from early September during his appearance on the ‘Spittin’ Chiclets’ podcast.
“I think it’s cause you hear stuff and it’s always negative – well, not always negative about Marns, but a lot of the time – and then you get on the ice with him and you’re like, how could anyone ever be negative about this? For me, I just admire how good he is just cause people chirp him a lot.”

On the same episode, Ryan Reaves was asked about the criticism that Marner received after the Leafs lost to the Boston Bruins in round one.
“I didn’t think it was fair at all. You can’t put a whole playoff series on one guy. It’s not like he was horrible, the points just weren’t coming for him that’s just how it is in Toronto.»

Reaves, who admitted he felt the same pressures after a horrendous start to his first season in Toronto, sees the heat Marner gets first hand. The fact that MacKinnon also sees it and thinks it’s ridiculous may be a sign for Leafs fans to tone it down a bit. However, Marner and the rest of the ‘Core 4’ may not take so much heat if they would stop giving the same ‘learned a lot’ and ‘we’re right there’ sentiments that fans have heard for almost a decade now by taking a page out of MacKinnon’s book when he said he and the Avs hadn’t ‘done s***’. He then led the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup the following season.

Entering the final season of his current contract, how Marner begins the season will be something to watch as he hopes to sign long-term in Toronto.