Two Sides of Marner: Playoff Ghost or Franchise Pillar?
Marner is a polarizing figure. His regular-season numbers are undeniable—he’s consistently among the team’s leading scorers and plays in all situations. He’s also deeply tied to the city: a hometown kid who grew up a fan, gives back off the ice, and genuinely wants to be a Maple Leaf for life.
Yet, his playoff reputation continues to weigh him down. Over the past few years, fans have watched Marner disappear in key games, visibly frustrated and angry. Yet, still ineffective as the stakes rise. While he still produces occasional points, it often doesn’t feel like he impacts the outcome. As each series advances he crumbles under the pressure and contributes less as the games gain importance.
That’s a hard pill for a player carrying a $10.9 million cap hit, especially when the same script has repeated year after year. The core question fans ask is whether keeping Marner is about hope or habit.
Reallocating Marner’s Salary Cap Space Is Enticing
There’s another layer to this debate: what else could the Maple Leafs do with that money? With the salary cap jumping to $95.5 million,
Toronto enters the offseason with around $25.7 million in projected space. That sounds like a lot—until you consider they have only 15 players under contract. Depth will cost money. So, will any upgrades to the blue line, although it would seem as if their goaltending is pretty solid?
Re-signing Marner to a market-value deal—say, $12 million annually—would again eat up a massive budget share. While he’s certainly talented enough to command that number, some fans wonder if the Maple Leafs would be better off spreading that money across multiple needs. In other words, if Toronto wants to change its identity, can it afford to spend 40% of its cap on four forwards again? Even if John Tavares is willing to go deeply market-friendly, a returned Core Four will still eat up a considerable slice of the salary pie.
Should the Toronto Maple Leafs even try to re-sign Mitch Marner? What is the case for an against trying to bring him back to the team?
thehockeywriters.com