Let's see what he does in the playoffs this year, He's been less than spectacular in previous years and that's being kind
Yeah every time I see someone say Marner's earned his contract I think back to some of those playoffs and think ... not really.
Marner is an all situation player. PK PP 5v5. Great passer, added a sweet shot this year. Can drive his own line too. Matthews is our 1C but there is definitely an argument that Marner is just as important to the team and possibly more.
We will pay what they want unfortunately......I just hope they've learned that team success and being able to surround themselves with better players means not taking us to the cleaners.
It's hard to imagine them not knowing this by now, so the question becomes do they care? Are they happy with making a mere 150 million or whatever during their career and want to win some cups? Or do they care less about cups and more about adding a few more millions to their bank accounts?
Whether we win the cup or not with these guys could depend on the answer to that question, we'll find out soon enough.
Fwiw, the alleged willingness to sign 8x 8.5-9M was never fact. It was a rumour, and one that both did and didn’t make sense. There was also a contradictory rumour that Marner wanted to bet on himself and play out the season with JT (who everyone knew he’d play with) and negotiate from there. Ultimately we have no idea which way this actually went.
Either way, it’s the past now. Marner is full marks for the deal he signed. He and Matthews will make big bucks again, and will be both be fully worth it. They are the two best and most important players this club has had during this era and it’s not even close.
I agree that they're the best and it's not close but if they insist on squeezing every last dollar they can out of us, at that point the question of whether they're worth it or not becomes murky, at least for me it does. As much fun as it is to watch them do their thing, it's even more fun to have a team that goes deep in the playoffs. There's been far too little of that IMHO over the last 50+ years, that's my priority by far and if M&M both are out to make the max then there comes a point where we might be better off without one of them.
