Marner jokes 'never grade your teammates on their work ethic'

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner appeared on former teammate Connor Carrick's podcast recently and made light of the list incident with former coach Mike Babcock that blew up following the dismissal of the veteran bench boss earlier this season.

Carrick asked Marner which moment he uses as a learning opportunity to this point of his career.

"Well, I think one is to never grade your teammates on their work ethic in practice," Marner joked. "That one is definitely the top."

In the week following Babcock's firing, it was reported the coach privately asked the forward to rank his teammates based on their work ethic during his rookie season. Babcock then shared the list with the players Marner categorized as the laziest without telling him.

Marner later confirmed the story amid the media firestorm, and told Carrick that the teammates he unknowingly singled out - Tyler Bozak, James van Riemsdyk, and Nazem Kadri - didn't take it personally.

"I was really young. I was nervous. I didn't know what to do, so I did it. Next thing I knew it got reported to the team," Marner said. "Bozie, JVR, and Naz - those three are some of the best guys I've ever played with. They've been great throughout my career, talking to them and stuff like that. It was hilarious. At first, they were jiving me about it, because I didn’t know it was gonna get shown to them. I think (Babcock's) lesson was trying to show the older guys that I'm a young guy and I'm looking up to these three and that's what was happening."

Marner and the New Jersey Devils defenseman discussed a wide variety of topics, including Marner's highly publicized contract negotiation last offseason. The 23-year-old was in the crosshairs all summer long for a lengthy dispute that resulted in a six-year, $65.358-million pact inked at the start of training camp.

"It was really interesting to be a part of it and see what a lot of people try to do to kinda tear you down," Marner said about the negotiations process. "Try and make you feel like you're not the player you are."

Marner was among the Leafs' top performers before the season was shut down, posting 67 points over 59 games in his fourth year with the club.