Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas comes to the defense of Mitch Marner

Another season of Toronto Maple Leafs hockey is right around the corner, and the team is already fielding questions regarding their well-known shortcomings in recent years, capped by last season's collapse against the rival Montreal Canadiens.

And among Toronto's stars facing increased scrutiny was forward Mitch Marner who failed to light the lamp once in his team's seven game loss to the Habs after registering 67 points in 55 regular season games played. 

However, general manager Kyle Dubas isn't a fan of those who are criticizing Marner. 

"Mitch cares very deeply about the team and I hate to see him get criticized because of how much he cares and how much he puts into it, even when he's not scoring," Dubas said. 

Marner is one of Toronto's highest paid players, having agreed to a six year, $65,418,000 contract in September of 2019.