Ok I'm not here to make a huge stand on defending Marner, but maybe its a bit of recency bias that make us so upset about him:
-He was coming off of an injury, what % was he playing at in the playoffs this year? I know everyone is banged up, but his injury wasn't just a 'little banged up' thing. Maybe, just maybe, he was toughing it out through a lot of discomfort and pain and it can impact your play.
-Before this playoffs, Marner was averaging .94 points per game in the playoffs (over 50 games). Matthews .88, Nylander .80, Tavares .71.
-Before this playoffs, Marner was a +9 through is Leaf's playoff career. Matthews even. Nylander -1, Tavares -9.
-Before this playoffs, Marner had 3 game winning goals in the playoffs. Matthews 5. Nylander 2. Tavares 1.
-Marner spends a lot of time killing penalties. He puts effort and has ice time out there short handed. 0ver 97 minutes in the playoffs on the PK. Matthews about 3 minutes. Nylander about 3 minutes. Tavares about 1 minute. I'm sure its a lot nicer when the PK is out there to sit on the bench and get a couple minutes of rest so you can go back out there full speed when the PK is over, the other 3 get that, Marner doesn't.
-He doesn't get as many goals as the other guys, but the VAST majority (close to 80%) of his assists are primary assists, meaning he is contributing to the goals that are being scored by the other guys.
I'm not saying I want them to re-sign Marner to 7 years and $85 million. I'm just saying, historically he actually is one of the better guys on this team in the playoffs. He wasn't this year, but up to this year, many of the numbers show it, and the 'eye test' (before this year) shows it too (at least to me).