Former two-time Stanley Cup winner Dave Bolland, who won his two Cups in Chicago, but also played for Florida and Toronto, set the Twitter world afire with just one controversial thought about the ongoing Mitch Marner saga.
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Bolland proceeded to double down on his assertion. "I think Marner has been their best player," he told Sporting News. "I know Matthews is a goal scorer, he puts up goals; but I think as an all-around player, I see Marner as like a Jonathan Toews. Toews was our go-to guy in Chicago, we'd have him out there for power play, penalty kill. He was the guy when things were going down, and I kind of see Marner in that same type of position."
The backlash on Bolland has been vicious and non-stop. Personal attacks, innuendos, jokes about him being better than Kane were just some of the barbs he had to endure. Needless to say, he's wouldn't make the list of 5,000,000 most popular people in Toronto right about now.
Marner is a great talent, with many facets to his game, but to put him ahead of Matthews in terms of value, or even in front of John Tavares, is a reach. Bolland's assertion may be something that Marner's agent may bring up during negotiations, but assuming that Marner signs with the Leafs eventually, one would hope that this compliment doesn't go to his head.
