Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas isn't falling for Brad Marchand's tricks.
Dubas responded to Marchand's tweet from Tuesday, in which the Boston Bruins forward appeared to be advocating for young Leafs star Mitch Marner to receive a big salary bump.
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“I think it was a master troll job, to say the least, you have to respect that element of it," Dubas told reporters Wednesday. "From my end, I think the part that I liked about it was, there's over a 90 percent chance we're going to play [Boston] in the playoffs if you take the probabilities of it.
"So that he woke up the morning of a game day and was thinking about the Toronto Maple Leafs, I thought that was a positive thing for us.”
Marchand's tweet added to an already tense contract situation between Toronto and 21-year-old Marner, who is a restricted free agent at the end of the season and has elected to delay negotiations until the summer. Marner's 81 points give him a nine-point cushion atop the Leafs' scoring charts heading into Wednesday night's game against the Vancouver Canucks.
Sensing an opportunity to join in on the fun, Boston defenceman Torey Klug weighed in on the situation, taking a friendly jab at his own teammate in the process.
"Please excuse my friend [Marchand]. Unfortunately, his pills didn’t wear off post game before he got on Twitter."
Please excuse my friend @Bmarch63 Unfortunately, his pills didn’t wear off post game before he got on @Twitter pic.twitter.com/XCTEo2JVi5
— Torey Krug (@ToreyKrug) March 6, 2019
Marchand has made a reputation for himself for being a pest on the ice, but in taking his unique abilities to social media he showed a new way to get under the opposition's skin without having to lace up his skates. As noted by Dubas, the Leafs and Bruins would face off in the first round of the NHL playoffs if the season ended Wednesday.