You felt a bit bad for Mitch Marner on Wednesday morning, having to come out to face the media and clean up some of the mess others had created for him.



No, he didn’t know what was said in the newspaper by his agent, Darren Ferris.



Yes, he was happy being a Maple Leaf.



And on and on.



“This is a great place to play hockey,” Marner said (video here). “We have great management. We have a great team in this locker room. We all want – including myself – to be a Leaf for a long time, and I’m sure that’ll happen.”



If the whole situation bothered him, however, you would never know it Wednesday night. Marner was again a superstar in a 5-4 win over the Senators, logging 21 minutes and producing a highlight-reel primary assist on two of Toronto’s goals.



He’s had a habit of giving teammates tap-ins like that all year, to the point that he now leads the entire NHL in first assists...