FRIDAY,SEPTEMBER13,2019 | THEGLOBEANDMAIL O B13
K
yle Dubas stepped to the
podium and welcomed re-
porters to the start of train-
ing camp.
The general manager of the
Toronto Maple Leafs then drew a
proverbial line in the sand.
Dubas said he was happy take
any and all questions related to
the contract saga swirling around
star winger Mitch Marner, but
made it clear that after Thursday
morning, there wouldn’t be any-
thing else publicly from the
team’s front office until the sit-
uation is resolved one way or an-
other.
“Radio silence,” the second-
year GM said.
Talks between Marner’s camp
and the Leafs – off and on since
last summer – have yet to yield
anything of substance.
A long-term agreement, a
shorter so-called “bridge deal,”
and various dollar figures have
been rumoured, but the two
sides remain at odds as the Leafs
opened camp with physicals be-
fore flying to St. John’s for their
first on-ice session Friday.
It’s believed the 22-year-old
winger, who led Toronto with a
career-high 94 points last season,
wants to be paid in the same
range as star centres Auston
Matthews (US$11.634-million an-
nually) and John Tavares (US$11-
million).
The Leafs have reportedly
been willing to go that high com-
ing out of Marner’s entry-level
contract, but pen has still yet to
find its way onto paper.
“In every negotiation everybo-
dy thinks on their side they’re be-
ing reasonable. The major argu-
ment then comes down to:
‘Who’s more reasonable than the
other?’ ” Dubas said.
“At times, they’ve probably
thought we haven’t been reason-
able and I would say it’s vice-ver-
sa in every negotiation that we
do. I don’t try to get too tied into
that. Mitch is a great player. He’s a
great person that comes in here
every day and brings great ener-
gy and enthusiasm.
“We’re just focused on trying
to bring it to an end, and always
keep that in mind regardless of
what the noise is.”
The Leafs went through a simi-
lar exercise with William Nylan-
der last season before the for-
ward eventually ended up get-
ting close to what he’d asked for –
slightly less than US$7-million
annually – minutes before a hard
December deadline.
The difference now is that Du-
bas finds himself much closer to
the US$81.5-million salary cap,
and although Toronto has somewiggle room thanks to the long-
term injury reserve stipulation,
money will be extremely tight if
Marner isn’t signed by Oct. 2.
“We don’t want to think about
going into the season without
Mitch,” Dubas said. “We didn’t
want to get to this point without
him here, either.”
Tavares, who centred Marner
much of last season and put up a
career-high 47 goals and 88
points, said he hopes to see his
linemate soon.
“Mitchy’s obviously a massive
part of our team,” he said. “Wedeveloped some really good
chemistry.”
Meanwhile, Dubas was also
asked about his relationship with
head coach Mike Babcock, who
was heavily criticized for his de-
ployment of Matthews in Game 7
of Toronto’s first-round playoff
exit – and second in as many
springs – at the hands of the Bos-
ton Bruins.
“We talk a lot,” Dubas said. “We
disagree, as any coach and GM do
a lot. We agree on a lot of things
and we work through it all. The
key is, on areas that you disagree,that you respect one another and
you work through all that.”
“We communicate all the
time,” added Babcock, whose job
security could be in jeopardy if
the Leafs falter in 2019-20. “We
don’t agree all the time. I’ve en-
joyed it. We’re excited about our
opportunity.”
Dubas overhauled the roster
this summer, partly out of neces-
sity and partly out of a desire to
change its complexion to the
speed-and-skill style he wants
played. In doing so, the GM got
rid of a couple of veterans Bab-
cock leaned on heavily in winger
Patrick Marleau and defenceman
Ron Hainsey.
Also out the door were centre
Nazem Kadri and winger Connor
Brown, along with defencemen
Jake Gardiner and Nikita Zaitsev.
Joining the fold are forwards Ja-
son Spezza and Alexander
Kerfoot, while blueliners Tyson
Barrie and Cody Ceci headline
the new additions on the back
end.
Dubas, however, wouldn’t bite
when asked if this Leafs incarna-
tion is good enough to end the
franchise’s 52-year Stanley Cup
drought.
“It’s really, ‘Can the roster give
us chances to accomplish those
types of things?’ ” he said. “Mike
has proven he’s a coach capable
of winning the Stanley Cup. He’s
been to the final on two other oc-
casions, and gone to Game 7 in
both of those.
“We’ll just keep rolling every
day here, and try and be the best
we can be every day in the hope
you get some fortune, and step
up in key moments and it results
in success.”
Dubas said he’s confident any
damage to the relationship with
Marner can be repaired and that
the talented local product will be
back in blue and white.
“He’s a big part of what we do,”
Dubas said. “Even though these
negotiations can go ways in
which the public can form a dif-
ferent opinion, he’s an excellent
person.
“With [Nylander], there were
some heated times as well, but
that relationship is excellent. I
have faith that, as with all of
these things, once it comes to a
solution, that we’ll have to have
probably a very blunt discussion
and then we’ll carry on. There’s
going to be no grudges from our
end.”THE CANADIANPRESSOTTAWADefencemen Mark
Borowiecki and RonHainsey
and forwardJean-Gabriel Pa-
geau will serve as alternate
captains for the Ottawa Sen-
ators this season.
The Senators made the
announcement Thursday as
players reported for medicals
and testing at training camp.
For the second season in a
row, the Senators will not have
a captain. Ottawa’s most recent
captain wasErikKarlsson, who
was traded to the SanJoseSharks before last season.
Borowiecki and Pageau are
homegrown Senators from
Ottawa.
Borowiecki has played 322
games with the Senators since
making his debut in the 2011-
12 season.
Pageau debuted with Ottawa
the next season and has suited
up for 368 games with the
Senators.
Hainsey signed with the
Senators this summer after two
seasons with the Toronto MapleLeafs.He has played 1,068
career NHLgames.
Meanwhile, the Senators
announced defencemanChris-
tian Wolanin will be out a
minimum of four months with
a torn left labrum.
Senators coachD.J. Smith
said Wolanin suffered the injury
during a precamp skate.
“It was just a freak accident.
He just kind of fell and his arm
went back ... You just feel bad
for the kid,” Smith said.
THE CANADIANPRESSSENATORSNAMEBOROWIECKI,HAINSEY,PAGEAUALTERNATECAPTAINSLeafsGMissuesalastwordonMarnertalks
Aftertakingquestions
abouttheteam’sstar
restrictedfree-agent
winger,KyleDubas
imposes‘radiosilence’
JOSHUACLIPPERTONTORONTO
MapleLeafsrightwingerWilliamNylanderreturnstothelockerroomafteraphoto-shootsessioninTorontoon
Thursday.TheteamopeneditstrainingcampwithphysicalexaminationsbeforeflyingeasttoSt.John’sfor
theirfirston-icepracticesessiononFriday.CHRISTOPHERKATSAROV/THECANADIANPRESSJosh Morrissey is exactly where he wants to
be – and he’s set to remain there.
The Winnipeg Jets announced Thursday
the defenceman has signed an eight-year,
US$50-million contract extension, one day
before the start of training camp.
The deal, which begins in 2020-21 and
carries Morrissey through the 2027-28
season, has an average annual value of
US$6.25-million.
The Calgary-born Morrissey, 24, had one
year left on a two-year contract with a cap
hit of US$3.15-million. He is the club’s only
current player to have a contract run that
far into the future.
“The term excited me,” said Morrissey,
who’s starting his fourth full season in the
NHL. “The fact that I get to have that stabil-
ity, but to be here and playing in Winnipeg,
from Day 1, it’s what I’ve always said that I
wantedtodo.”
Morrissey will be paid US$8-million in
the first two years and fourth year of the
deal. He is to receive US$5.2-million in the
third year, US$6.4-million in the fifth year
and US$4.8-million in each of the final
three seasons.
Jets general manager Kevin Chevel-
dayoff said Morrissey reflects the type of
player and person the franchise wants.
“He’s done a lot of things both on and off
the ice to help our team grow,” he said.
“He’s mature beyond his years with respect
to him as a person.
“Just the way he has progressed and how
he earned everything he’s gotten on the ice
- the coaches’ trust, the coaches’ praise,
teammates’ trust, teammates’ praise.
Those are things that you earn. In a very dif-
ficult sport like this and a very competitive
sport, to earn all those people’s trust and
praise is a big thing.”
The six-foot, 195-pound defenceman
had a career-high 31 points (six goals, 25 as-
sists) in 59 games with the Jets last season.
A first-round pick (13th over all) by Winni-
peg in 2013, Morrissey was third on the
team in average ice time last season at 22
minutes 24 seconds. He returns to a Jets
blueline that lost his top-pairing partner Ja-
cob Trouba, as well as Tyler Myers and Ben
Chiarot during the off-season.
Last year, Morrissey missed the first
three days of training camp before signing
a two-year bridge deal.
On the eve of this year’s camp, the team
doesn’t have contracts with forwards Pa-
trik Laine and Kyle Connor.
“We’re at a stage here where there’s still
work to be done and we’ll continue to work
at that,” Cheveldayoff said. “That’s pretty
much the basis of the most comments I’ll
give on negotiations, other than we’ll con-
tinue to work at them and hopefully every-
thing works out sooner rather than later.”
Morrissey’s deal doesn’t
relate to those talks, he said.
“We wouldn’t have made it if
we didn’t feel comfortable,”
Cheveldayoff said. “And as far
as impacting anything else,
this deal was done with the
cap in mind and I talked
about the uncertainties
about the future cap and at
some point in time you have
to make some decisions and go with it.”
Morrissey said he wanted to try to ink a
deal before training camp or the start of the
season. “We’ve got it figured out, and now I
can focus on my game individually and try-
ing to win,” he said.
“From talking to the guys in the room, I
think everyone’s kind of coming from that
mindset where we’re excited about thisyear and we’re excited to show what we can
do as a team and try to build with our young
group that’s still one of the youngest in the
league.”
With a total of nine seasons ahead of him
with the team, Morrissey can envision him-
self taking on more of a leadership role.
“That’s something I think
happens naturally,” he said.
“At least it has to happen nat-
urally. If it’s forced or any-
thing like that, then it just
doesn’t work as well.
“It’s definitely something I
would welcome. It’s some-
thing you grow with over
time, get better at over time.
You learn and with experi-
ence you get better at it.
“We’re fortunate here to have great lead-
ers, great older guys who are leaders and I
feel like I’ve learned a lot from them over
the years and want to continue to be part of
that group of guys that is leading on and off
the ice and pushing to win.”THECANADIANPRESSJetslockupMorrisseywitheight-yearextension
JUDYOWENWINNIPEG
JoshMorrisseycelebratesagoalagainsttheMapleLeafsinTorontoinMarchof2018.The
six-foot,195-pounddefencemanhadacareer-high31points(sixgoals,25assists)in59
gamesinthe2018-19season.CLAUSANDERSEN/GETTYIMAGESTheCalgary-born
Morrissey, 24, had
oneyearleftona
two-year contract
with a cap hit of
US$3.15-million.A lawyer for Bob Baffert says the
Hall of Fame trainer did not inten-
tionally give 2018 Triple Crown
winning horse Justify a banned
substance that caused a positive
test prior to last year’s Kentucky
Derby.
Lawyer W. Craig Robertson re-
leased a statement defending
Baffert after The New York Times
reported Wednesday that Justify
tested positive for Scopolamine in
spring of 2018. Robertson con-
tends the substance came from
contaminated food and that the
California Horse Racing Board did
the correct thing by not pursuing
a lengthy investigation.
Justify tested positive after
winning the Santa Anita Derby in
California in April, 2018, but was
allowed to run in the Kentucky
Derby a month later. Robertson
writes that Justify passed “any
and all drug tests” in Kentucky,
Maryland and New York while
racing in those states on the way
to becoming the 13th Triple
Crown winner in history.
Reached by text message, Baff-
ert verified the letter from Robert-
son, which is addressed to the au-
thor of The New York Times story.
Elliott Walden of WinStar Farm,
which co-owns Justify, did not im-
mediately respond to a message
seeking comment.
“We take seriously the integrity
of horse racing in California, and
are committed to implementing
the highest standards of safety
and accountability for all horses,
jockeys and participants,” the Cal-
ifornia Horse Racing Board said in
a statement e-mailed to AP. A
CHRB spokesman said Thursday
that it didn’t have anything else to
add.THEASSOCIATEDPRESSJustify’s
positivetest
camefrom
contaminated
food:Lawyer
STEPHENWHYNOREPORTONBUSINESS |