Marner training with 2 NHL superstars heading into contract year.

It has probably been a very difficult summer to be Toronto Maple Leafs star forward Mitch Marner.

Although Marner is well compensated as a player in the National Hockey League, he has faced a veritable deluge of criticism from fans and pundits alike after another relatively underwhelming performance in the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs. Things got so bad in fact that there was at one point a widespread belief that Marner would not return to the Maple Leafs for another season.

His return now however seems like a forgone conclusion but if you believed that Marner was simply taking the summer off and taking all of the criticisms in stride, it sounds like you may have been sorely mistaken.

On a recent episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed some details about what Marner has been up to this summer.

"I understand he has taken this summer extremely seriously," said Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast. "He knows this is all hovering around him and he has been determined to have the best possible summer that he can to be ready."

There is a lot on the line for Marner coming into this upcoming NHL season, not the least of which is his reputation with the fan base in Toronto. Marner is also entering an important contract year and his performance on the ice this season could very well determine how much he will earn on his next deal.

Keeping that in mind, it comes as no surprise to learn that Marner has enlisted the help of some seriously elite NHL superstars in his offseason training.

"The likes of Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon," revealed Friedman. "At a previous Biosteel camp he played with MacKinnon in camp... I've heard he's looked dynamite with Crosby and MacKinnon at this camp."

The Maple Leafs faced something of a similar situation with forward William Nylander recently, and it sounds like Marner is hoping to follow the same path that Nylander did before him. That is to say, Marner is hoping to play so well that the Maple Leafs simply cannot afford to let him walk as a free agent.

"I think deep down that's what Marner wants to happen to," said Friedman.

Whether or not Marner can make that a reality will remain to be seen.