Player Discussion Mitch Marner Part Infinity

[Tak7]

Yeah isn't Boqvist their 13th forward or something? Lol

13th forward or 1st forward - probably shouldn't be getting beat by the guy that had to literally pass you to get back onside, and then burned you again to get to the backdoor pass

 

[thewave]

It's like the fake fighting for the puck along the boards...take the long route and let the opposition get to the puck first, then pretend to engage so he doesn't get hit.

He does this all the time too. Its not just a little. Every single game.

Regardless of what happens I think Marner is gone. That spinarooni was it. He deep 6 himself real good.

 

[aingefan]

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've read "you can't let talent like that walk". I can't help but wonder what all those people are thinking today?

‘Man, I wish they moved him in the summer of ‘23 before his NMC kicked in’?

 

[IPS]

I wish I had a dollar for every time I've read "you can't let talent like that walk". I can't help but wonder what all those people are thinking today?

Yeah I'm thinking the whole "the haters are going to lose their minds when Marner re-signs for massive money!" narrative died awhile ago.

Haven't seen that triple-digit number username loser on here for awhile anyway.

 

[ashs]

will this be his last game as a leaf? tragic ending

 

[JT AM da real deal]

I remember the Dubas "offer sheets are everywhere" years. I think Mitchy will be hard pressed to get anything over 12M from anyone with any contention window open. Why would a contender want someone who doesn't contend?

I can see Ferris trying to sucker Tre into over paying Bennett for his grit but I doubt he is going to bite on that apple. He already traded him because he stunk in the regular season once before.

Heh if Ferris gets Marner a 14M deal from Utah, to hit CAP floor, then great for both of them .. Mitch can play where no one cares about hockey and he can hit his Muskoka cottage early every year .. our Leafs will be better off adding another hometown kid like Bennett on a much cheaper deal and then using extra CAP to get another winger with size and speed .. da bigger issue will be trying to unload Matty .. if we can get another top notch younger healthier C and another top notch D and a pick or 2 then team can retool pretty quickly into a team who has a much better chance for playoff success

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

will this be his last game as a leaf? tragic ending

Hopefully.

Seriously the leafs wanted to discuss extensions with him multiple times this year and he didn't want to negotiate. So we tried to trade him for Rantanen and he didn't want that either.

The guy doesn't want to be here. He wants to finish the season and leave.

It was excruciatingly obvious since the Blue jackets serious that the mix was wrong and we'd be in semi-good purgatory.

The core 4 isn't an issue. The core 2 are, and Marner is the one without a contract

 

[Gary Nylund]

Yeah I'm thinking the whole "the haters are going to lose their minds when Marner re-signs for massive money!" narrative died awhile ago.

Haven't seen that triple-digit number username loser on here for awhile anyway.

Yeah that's one silver lining - him and that double-digit username loser haven't been around in a while so the air around here is a bit more fresh.

 

[Mess]

While several Leafs players have underperformed this postseason, Mitch Marner's struggles in Game 5 were especially noticeable. A blatant giveaway led directly to Florida's third goal, prompting an abundance of criticism from former Maple Leafs enforcer Jay Rosehill on X:



Marner's future in Toronto is already under heavy speculation, with his contract nearing its end, and growing chatter about a potential move to another team in free agency. His performance in Game 5 has only intensified those conversations.

Game 6 on Friday is a do-or-die situation for the Leafs. A loss would end their season-and potentially mark the final game for Mitch Marner in a Maple Leafs uniform.

 

[Gallagbi]

He also didn't have much time when he came in, to be fair. The guy was trying to get his bearing, putting that in his plate was a bit much. It's why we kept Keefe too I suspect, he was getting grounded. The timing of Dubas leaving was awful for the franchise.

You could argue the timing was perfect for a change and that's what many were expecting coming in

 

[ACC1224]

While several Leafs players have underperformed this postseason, Mitch Marner's struggles in Game 5 were especially noticeable. A blatant giveaway led directly to Florida's third goal, prompting an abundance of criticism from former Maple Leafs enforcer Jay Rosehill on X:



Marner's future in Toronto is already under heavy speculation, with his contract nearing its end, and growing chatter about a potential move to another team in free agency. His performance in Game 5 has only intensified those conversations.

Game 6 on Friday is a do-or-die situation for the Leafs. A loss would end their season-and potentially mark the final game for Mitch Marner in a Maple Leafs uniform.

Fresh take.

 

[ToneDog]

You could argue the timing was perfect for a change and that's what many were expecting coming in

They could have forced Marner to waive his NMC. They chose not to for whatever reasons and now they will lose him for nothing. Who cares anyway? He has been useless in the playoffs since he signed for 6 years. In those 6 years, he has 8 playoff goals. Ranta has 9 this year alone along with his SC ring.

 

[LeafGrief]

Will be interesting to see how his reputation develops over time as he plays out the rest of his career (anywhere else). Does he get booed next year when they give him a video tribute? Does he get booed all night his first game back like Tavares did? Does he win somewhere else and have a bit of a Kessel-like resurgence in reputation? For my part, I can't see much of a Kessel rehabilitation. There were plenty of people who wanted him gone by the end, and he was guilty of being a one-dimensional player, but at least he always brought his game.

Marner is going to go down in Leafs history, likely with Matthews alongside, as the player most thoroughly hated by the time we ran him out of town. Do his supporters even number in the 10% any more?

Never more has there been a player and a team who both need fresh starts.

 

[Tak7]

‘Man, I wish they moved him in the summer of ‘23 before his NMC kicked in’?

How many of us were saying that back in 2023?

How many of us were saying you at least had to broach the topic of waiving the NMC this past off-season?

 

[A1LeafNation]

Spinny back pass Marner...in another timeline, his teammates would have fought him for that.

 

[The Shadow]

This will be the last time we see him in a leaf jersey. He will run as fast as he can and collect his $100 million

 

[Gallagbi]

They could have forced Marner to waive his NMC. They chose not to for whatever reasons and now they will lose him for nothing. Who cares anyway? He has been useless in the playoffs since he signed for 6 years. In those 6 years, he has 8 playoff goals. Ranta has 9 this year alone along with his SC ring.

You never want to piss away assets and he's a big one to ride out.

They forced NMC option was there, or they could have looked to move him before the NMC kicked in at all

 

[DarkKnight]

You could argue the timing was perfect for a change and that's what many were expecting coming in

If Dubas stayed sure, I don’t get how anyone thinks a generational trade under those conditions was going to be consummated so quickly with a new guy. I know I didn’t.

 

[Gallagbi]

If Dubas stayed sure, I don’t get how anyone thinks a generational trade under those conditions was going to be consummated so quickly with a new guy. I know I didn’t.

Crazy to think he's that difficult to move, I think you're under selling the interest in him and a competent GM's ability

 

[DarkKnight]

Crazy to think he's that difficult to move, I think you're under selling the interest in him and a competent GM's ability

I think you’re under selling what he walked into. Again, as soon as Dubas left and the search began, I felt the core 4 was staying, time wasn’t on our side. The organization was in tumult, we weren’t even sure who else was going, the worst unsettled environment to make a trade of that magnitude quickly come together. I’d add you’re assuming Tre wanted to trade him when he took the job, when really he was reassessing everything, unless Shanny directed, why would anyone assume that’s his immediate mandate? We don’t even know if Dubas was going to pull the trigger, guy makes one flippant frustrated comment and people assume it was reality. He also said he wasn’t going to another organization, he was just riffing obviously. Anyways, I blame circumstance and timing over an individual, with the exception of Shanny.

 

[Tak7]

This will be the last time we see him in a leaf jersey. He will run as fast as he can and collect his $100 million

On a human level, I hope / feel like he's decided to move on.

This can't be fun for him. This can't be enjoyable to him or his family. He's a high end athlete doing what he loves, and as I've said repeatedly, he's looked increasingly like he's fallen out of love since 2021. I feel like I haven't seen him smile in half a decade.

Deep in his heart, surely has to think, I shouldn't continue doing this.

For what purpose? Your legacy is already cemented here, chasing regular season points records is frivolous.

 

[Gary Nylund]

If Dubas stayed sure, I don’t get how anyone thinks a generational trade under those conditions was going to be consummated so quickly with a new guy. I know I didn’t.

Going to be, maybe not. Should have been, absolutely.

This whole narrative that Tre needed time to assess what he had was idiotic from the start. The guys' been in the league for a long time and GM's trade to acquire players all the time that they've never had on their team before. If you're a GM you have scouts working for you, you appraise the value of players all the time, it's what your job is after all, this shouldn't be hard to understand. If you can trade to get players you've never had on your team, why would anyone think you need to be GM for a year to "know what you have" before trading Marner?

It's complete BS and the stupidest excuse ever. Dubas should have moved Marner after the MTL series, Tre should have done it when he had the chance. And if he was ordered not to move him, he shouldn't have taken the job to begin with. Not moving Marner was on Dubas, now it's on Tre, period.

 

[Hellcat]

While I typically dont listen to "insiders" there is chorus of Toronto based insiders who are say that there is a 0% chance that Mitch returns to the Leafs next year.

Not so sure that is a bad thing. Mitch is one of the most skilled players in the League, that is not in doubt. Sometimes to get better you need to change the chemistry on the team. Sometimes when you change the chemistry on the team, the team crashes.

Some people say 9 mil on bennet is better than 13 mil on Mitch, if Bennett comes here does he get the Bunting treatment from the refs/league? What makes Bennet effective is his ability to play dirty in the grey areas and produce at a good 2nd line pace. Will he be allowed to play in those grey area's if he is a Leaf? Ekblad is a UFA, is he a guy we want to look at, injuries recently have caught up to him. He now plays like a modern day Pronger, is that type of style with so much visibility in Toronto a good thing or a hindrance? Marchand will never come here but if he is avail for 3rd line duties at a reasonable cap hit, I would sign him in a heartbeat.

This will be an interesting off season for our Blue and White.

 

[rielledup]

Would be interesting to see how things go down in his first game back in Toronto. I assume he'd get video package but I wonder how the fans would react to it?

 

[Gallagbi]

I think you’re under selling what he walked into. Again, as soon as Dubas left and the search began, I felt the core 4 was staying, time wasn’t on our side. The organization was in tumult, we weren’t even sure who else was going, the worst unsettled environment to make a trade of that magnitude quickly come together. I’d add you’re assuming Tre wanted to trade him when he took the job, when really he was reassessing everything, unless Shanny directed, why would anyone assume that’s his immediate mandate? We don’t even know if Dubas was going to pull the trigger, guy makes one flippant frustrated comment and people assume it was reality. He also said he wasn’t going to another organization, he was just riffing obviously. Anyways, I blame circumstance and timing over an individual, with the exception of Shanny.

I actually haven't said he wanted to move any of the core 4.

I do think it was possible and should have been looked at. Not enough time is a terrible excuse for an experienced GM with existing relationships and top tier assets. If I look at the other side, I'd want a GM capable of making an enticing offer for an asset they desire in short order. Otherwise you're constantly missing out.

At the end of the day the franchise had options to make moves after Dubas left. They decided to stay with the core 4 and it looks like that'll bite us. I'd argue we made it worse with this deadline especially and the assets unloaded for depth pieces.