'There are people who are friends to your face but say a lot of things behind it.'
Those four players make upwards of $40 million combined per season, so they catch the most flak as the Leafs' infamous Stanley Cup drought grows longer. Marner knows the team's best players need to carry the load to get Toronto over the hump, but understands four guys can't do it alone.
"Look, we want to take a lot of responsibility," Marner said. "Yeah, we definitely have a lot of weight on our shoulders, but it's weight that we've all wanted and have asked for pretty much with what we do on the ice."At the same time, it's definitely a team sport, you need everyone out there, and we all know that we need to be better to achieve our ultimate goals.
Marner, who is getting married this summer, has become particularly close with Matthews and Nylander during their time as teammates. Matthews and Nylander are both eligible for contract extensions this offseason, but Marner wants to stay out of the business side of things as they go through a stressful process and be there for them on a personal level.
"I'm definitely their friend before a teammate. Both those guys, their friendships mean a lot to me," Marner said. "I'm looking forward to having them both at the wedding and having a good time with them. Obviously there's a business aspect of our life and hopefully everything works out. Both of them have a lot of passion and love for our team and know we can do something special here.
"But unless I really need to get involved, I'm going to try to sit back and just be a friend of both of them. I don't really want to be talking anything hockey with them too much. It's more about just how they're doing. How's your summer been? How's life going?"Blackhawks announce 2-year contract for forward Philipp Kurashev after arbitration decision
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