Minnesota Wild defenseman Zach Bogosian cannot believe everything that Mitch Marner is going through, saying people really need to ease up.
The Toronto Maple Leafs seem to always come up short when the games matter most in the playoffs, and Mitch Marner seems to be the one that takes the brunt of it, in what many label as a ‘scapegoat’. Not everyone seems to agree with these sentiments, and now Minnesota Wild defenseman Zach Bogosian has come to the rescue.
Zach Bogosoan, a former Leaf, was on the Cam and Strick Podcast recently and explained his feelings on this situation.
“I know that Toronto gets a lot of grief about how much they’re paying the big boys and taking up a chunk of the salary cap,» Bogosian began, addressing the debate about the Leafs’ roster construction. «But those guys deserve it, man. They’re all really good.”
Zach Bogosian also spoke about Mitch Marner specifically, really having nothing but good things to say about him and how he feels terrible that he is always in the spotlight for wrong reasons somehow.
“I’m going to bat for Mitchy. I don’t understand why everyone is always up his a– about everything. I mean, that kid is such a good kid, he’s a good leader, and he’s always trying to take care of everyone around the locker room. He’s obviously a great player, but it’s almost like he’s the scapegoat for everyone, like a lightning rod for everyone to say, ‘this is the problem.'”
While there are a lot of Leafs fans who would agree with Zach Bogosian’s comments, many still feel that Mitch Marner chokes when the games matter most, and we did see that in recent playoff years. Take last season for example, where Mitch Marner put up 85 points in 69 games, and then completely vanished in the playoffs, having only collected three points in seven games. The organization really needs its star players to step up when needed, and that’s been a big issue over the last decade.
“I’ve played with a lot of guys and he is as good of a person and a teammate as I’ve ever seen. A lot of people give him sh** about this and that and we haven’t done this and it’s like, well, he’s trying everything,» Bogosian explained. «He’s such a good person, he’s a good leader like I said.
“I’ll have his back every f—— day of the week, man,» he reiterated. «That kid, he is the best. Anyone that has something to say about him, you can f— off because he’s such a good person, they don’t know. Anybody that doesn’t know somebody, and decides they are going to rip him, get to know the person first.”
Regardless of the divide between experts and fans over Mitch Marner, there is one thing they can all agree on, and that is that he will need to have a massive year in his final contract season if the team has any hope of making a deep run. Marner will also like to secure a nice pay day on his next contract as well.
