Maple Leafs make insulting offers to Marner!?

The Toronto Maple Leafs  signed star forward Auston Matthews  to a five-year contract extension on Tuesday. The deal is worth $58.17 million, meaning Matthews will have an annual salary cap hit of $11.634 million beginning in 2019-20 and running through the 2023-24 season.

That's all great for the Leafs and their fanbase, meaning they can now focus on Mitch Marner and his contract extension before the winger becomes eligible for restricted free agency on July 1st. However, it doesn't mean it will be easy to get him signed.

Especially if GM Kyle Dubas thinks Marner will accept anything less than what Matthews has just been paid. 

According to a report from the Toronto Star, Marner's agent Darren Ferris claims the club has so far made low-ball contract offers to his client. 

“Nobody else is taking a discount. And now you’re asking (Marner) to take one again? It’s nonsense,” Ferris said, per the Toronto Star report. “Mitch already did them a favor on the entry-level deal.”

Marner and his camp have been adamant about wanting to discuss a contract extension once the season is over and the winger isn't distracted by the discussions. 

While the Toronto Star made the quotes public once the Matthews extension had been inked and shared with the public, Ferris argued on TSN on Wednesday morning that they were taken out of context and that things are going well between his camp and the Maple Leafs. 

“Things were taken out of context from the summer," he said. "Unfortunate that the article had to come out yesterday.”

However, Toronto Star columnist Dave Feschuk tweeted after the TSN 1050 interview that the quotes were from Tuesday and he just spoke to Ferris, who acknowledged he meant to say they 'referred to' events from the summer. 

After the Matthews signing was completed, Darren Dreger spoke on TSN 1040 about Marner's position and how much he and Ferris could be looking to get. 

"I'm telling you, unless something drastic changes from the Mitch Marner camp, they believe that he shouldn't get a penny less than what Auston Matthews got today from the Maple Leafs."

After all, the 21-year-old is having yet another breakout season with 20 goals and leads the Leafs with 63 points in 52 games. Marner, selected fourth overall in the 2015 NHL Draft, has 61 goals and 132 assists in 211 career regular-season games with the Leafs.