Leafs' pending unrestricted free agent Marner mum on contract status entering camp

Mitch Marner walked up a few steps to a small stagebefore taking his seat at the microphone.

The Maple Leafs star did his best to get out in front of a narrative that cast a long shadow over the team's off-season, and one that will continue to do so until there's a resolution.

His future with the organization.

"There's going to be some contract questions, but I'm not here to talk about that," Marner told reporters Wednesday during a brief opening statement at Toronto's practice facility. "I'm very happy to be a Maple Leaf. It's an unbelievable privilege.

"I'm here to talk about the season and getting going."

Those questions, however, remain with training camp's first on-ice sessions set for Thursday.

Marner is entering the final year of a big-money deal signed in 2019 that counts $10.9 million US against the salary cap.

The product of nearby Thornhill, Ont., who can become an unrestricted free agent next summer, has been eligible to sign an extension since July 1.

That's yet to happen.

There was plenty of talk following last spring's seven-game playoff defeat -- the seventh time in eight years the Leafs were bounced in the opening round -- to the Boston Bruins about a need to change the core of Marner, Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares and Morgan Rielly.

Marner bore the brunt of fan frustration after picking up just three points in a series where Toronto's high-powered offence evaporated with just 12 combined goals.

"I've really tried to keep myself quite far away from reading any comments or anything about myself," he said of the vitriol.

Team president Brendan Shanahan said in May as the Original Six franchise again picked up the pieces that, "When you see patterns persist, and the results don't change,