Marner’s security sliding into DMs of people is exactly the kind of thing that actually harms his reputation. Apart from the inability to spell “you’re” and “quiet”…this is why he’s treated differently. At some point, you need to hold your people accountable.
The only reason anyone was ever hard/harder on Mitch was because of how he handled his contract negotiations.
He dragged the franchise through the mud, threatened to take offer sheets or play in Europe, dragged the negotiations into the media and used guys like Dreger as a mouth piece to try and wring every possible dollar out of the Leafs that he could.
He played for the team for 9 years, each year shitting himself live on TV when the lights got brightest, he brought it all upon himself.