from the hotstove
For me, one of the stories that will resonate the most from this game was that I can’t name five players on the Leafs who were worse than Mitch Marner tonight. He created nothing. He constantly turned the puck over (the list could go on and on, really). And yet guess who led all Leafs forwards in ice time? Marner.
It is one of the stories of Sheldon Keefe’s entire NHL coaching career to this point. Ice time is predetermined and good or poor play doesn’t change anything. The common retort to this criticism is that Marner is one of their best players, and Keefe has to play him. But he really doesn’t, particularly when he’s playing so poorly.
It’s a disservice to the players who are actually playing well. If you don’t think, say, Jarnkrok could have taken some of those minutes and also done nothing with them other than simply not turn the puck over, I’m not sure what to tell you.
On principle alone, Keefe can’t trot players out there for big minutes when they are underperforming and essentially wilting under the weight of the moment. We’ve had this conversation for years now under this coach. It’s not just about this one game. It’s about accountability throughout the season and playoffs. He can’t simply throw his hands up in the air and say, “Marner is a good player, and we can never bench him because you never know… Maybe he’ll snap out of it!”
Clearly, Keefe is not going to change, and it’s disappointing — and frustrating — to watch it play out over and over again.
