Marner agreeing to the contract Friday, the first day of practice at Maple Leafs training camp, means there won't be a repeat of the Nylander situation. No longer will his teammates have to deal with constant questions from media and fans: "What's going on with Mitch?"
"As much as you want to block it out, it's going to be the elephant in the room," Matthews said of the Marner contract talk. "So we're all happy for him, happy to have him back and get this thing going."
Coach Mike Babcock said that a player's contract impasse affects the focus of a team, no matter how much his teammates might deny it.
"You can say, 'Oh, it's not a distraction,' (but) it's a huge distraction," he said. "You could say whatever you want, but that's not reality. And you're supposed to say the right thing every day, but you get tired of it, talking about stuff you don't know anything about because you don't know. We're all optimistic. We thought it was going to get done. Now it's done."