It’s a priority to the Toronto Maple Leafs that their players feel safe and secure.
Those were the words of Maple Leafs GM Brad Treliving several days after Mitch Marner and his agent, Darren Ferris, each did interviews discussing the forward’s departure from Toronto just ahead of the NHL’s free agency period.
Marner, who signed an eight-year, $96 million contract with the Maple Leafs before moving to the Vegas Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade for Nicolas Roy, told TSN’s Mark Masters that his address had been leaked after going out in the second round to the Florida Panthers in May.
“We play Game 7 as we do in a non-enjoyable way of all time probably. You know you get home, you're pretty disappointed, you're pretty devastated at that. The thought also that it was my last Maple Leaf game at home,” Marner told Masters.
“And then I get a phone call probably about five or so minutes after from, I think it was my wife's father called me and goes, ‘I just want to let you know we've got people sending us screenshots of a guy posting your address online saying that if people want to come pay us a visit and say their goodbyes—in a quotation way—here’s the address.’ It was a little tough.”
Ferris revealed to the 100% Hockey podcast that Toronto’s security team assisted in getting Marner’s address removed from where it had been posted.
“There was another occasion where there was a death threat, and we traced it to a kid in Oakville, and the police went,” added Ferris.
“You’re always concerned. You can’t just say, ‘Ah, it’s just social media,’ because if something happened, that would be the biggest regret you could ever have. So, you’ve got to take every one of those seriously…”
Treliving spoke with Sportsnet at the NHL’s preseason GMs and head coaches meeting in Detroit, Michigan, giving others a peek behind the curtain at what the Maple Leafs do to protect their players.
“In our business, your No. 1 priority is looking after your players, and I think we do a really good job of it,” Treliving said.
“I don’t have any concerns that we don’t do everything humanly possible to make sure that they’re looked after, but in today’s world, you never take anything not seriously,” Treliving continued. “In today’s world — and it can go for Toronto, it can go for any market with social media — the lion’s share of people can have good, honest discourse, but there’s always the ones that cross the line.
“It’s unfortunate, but we always take every precaution necessary to make sure our guys are looked after.”
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