Mitch Marner (Trade or Keep)?

[Gary Nylund]

In our typical 89 game season, Marner is great for the first 86 games, then his play plummets for the last 3 when the stakes are highest. His production goes way down, he's no noticeable on the ice most of the time and when he is noticed, it's often for doing dumb shit like taking penalties for flipping the puck over the glass which he somehow managed to do 5 times in 4 playoffs, the rest of the team combined doing it a total of only 6 times during that time. Then there was game 3 where with the season on the line against Florida, he was fumbling the puck as if he was a nervous wreck playing his for game as a professional.

So it's about 97% of the time when he's fantastic, it's just that that other 3% when he's average at best comes at the worst possible time, with the season on the line. If it wasn't for that 3%, everyone would be a fan, nobody would be complaining about his contract and we'd probably have won a few more playoff series by now but instead, he's the most polarizing player the Leafs have had over the last 50 years, maybe ever.

It has to be a between the ears issue, at least I can't think of anything else that makes sense. Either those in charge have now hired the best sports shrinks money can buy to work with him, or they're incompetent. JMHO.

 

[Canadian Finn]

wonder how much of his pay was due to him winning a trophy in junior hockey, lol.

i wonder of mitchy himself is reliving those glory days as well. unlikely, I think his glory day is pay check day every two weeks.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Keep. We will never win that trade and I feel we won't get better as a result of it.

He’s walking

One of Marner or Tavares has to go.

Yep.

I almost feel bad for dubas, he bet his career on a core that always fails him

Dubas was a failed experiment

- He was very bad in the florida series, definitely the worst of the big 4 and honestly started to slip in game 5 versus Tampa
- He's a RW...so is Willy
- Willy will come in cheaper and has routinely outplayed him the playoffs, also Willy and Matthews have done better together than Marner/Matthews when it comes to win/loss record.
- I'm not prepared spending 22-25m on RWs when they are the easiest position in the NHL to replace
- It’s him or Willy to me and Willy is cheaper and fits the team better financially, Marner is the one to trade.

25M on right wingers isn’t a winning strategy

I'd like to see Marner traded unless Matthews indicates there's zero chance he resigns.

Matthews has choked as well, but I think it's harder to replace a #1C than a top line winger. With a different mix and different wingers maybe we see improvement from Matthews.

It's sad that Keefe is such a garbage coach that all he can do is look at the "data" and continue to watch Matthews and Marner fail together in the playoffs. Other coaches are tweaking things game to game.

Matthews has the potential to be one of the best players in the entire league, but we have to accept that he's lacking come playoffs. It sucks, but he just is. An $11M player should not need his wingers to elevate his game but its obvious Matthews does. We need a GM who is more concerned about team building and surrounding our core players with the right ingredients (while admitting their faults) than being their friend.

Sad truth

 

[alliuk12]

He's great in the regular season but struggles too heavily come playoff time. I can see him doing well somewhere else, but he's had ample opportunity in Toronto and it hasn't worked

seeing how he has more points in the playoffs then any leaf it is a real struggle

 

[ZEBROA]

I want him gone
1: to stop these and other threads going on forever...
2: to prove that we can be as good or better without him and the added 12-14mill. And that is not about him directrly, but the grouppsychology that it would create.

But I know it will not happen, so all i can do is hope he matures and become mentaly stronger.
As long as he is a Leaf i will say "go Leafs go Marner!" Its not about the player it is about the team.