Mitch Marner "waiting for something good from you" edition part III

[SoVi3t]

He's built like a pro gamer, not a hockey player.

I feel like Mitch would rather be the highlight of the night on Sportscentre, or cover athlete for EA NHL games, instead of just playing fundamental hockey. Why bother playing dump and chase when you can spin-o-rama twice and make a blind pass to a player who isn't even there?

 

[Aashir]

Honestly think benching Marner could be the play. We did this his second year numerous times over the year and it was pretty effective as he finished his last 41 games with 40 points

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[AvroArrow]

His supporters on this board are starting to sweat.... they're banking on you Mitch, and your reallllly making them look bad. They can only say "just you wait, Marner will make you eat crow" for so long you know.

Ripped my Marner jersey off the wall after last playoffs, ordered my Nylander one that should be here in a couple of days . I want to cheer for the kid but he makes it beyond difficult to do so. Trust me Mitchy, leafs fans want nothing more than you to do well, but you gotta play with some heart and balls.

 

[Antropovsky]

About time someone called him out, but you know what, limit his ice time

There we go..... good job Keefe.

 

[Eternal Leaf]

Honestly think benching Marner could be the play. We did this his second year numerous times over the year and it was pretty effective as he finished his last 41 games with 40 points

I agree.

The best option is to put Nylander on the 1st line with Matthews. Let Marner sit and think about his effort by demoting him to the second line.

More than punishing Marner, it's also a good way to reward Willy for putting in the work.

 

[Jozay]

doesn’t this only demonstrate how good he’s actually been and the crazy overreaction people have been having?
Easily the worst stretch of his career but lots of top players have slumps.

Yeah it does. But reality is, playing in Toronto is too toxic for Mitch and its showing in his play. Its getting to the point where its best for both sides to move on.

 

[SoVi3t]

Yeah it does. But reality is, playing in Toronto is too toxic for Mitch and its showing in his play. Its getting to the point where its best for both sides to move on.

For $9 million a year, you should be able to handle toxicity. You should also be earning that contract. He's doing neither.

 

[Antropovsky]

LOL I’m not sweating shit. Marner playing well or bad has no bearing on anything in my life. I do not care that much. I like him as a player, I always will through the good and the bad and that’s it. Some people don’t like him respectfully so. Some of you guys take HF Boards and hockey way too seriously & get a weird high by taking a shit on players here daily. Take it easy brother, it’s just a hobby.

If Marner was playing good... or was playing bad for only a short amount of time, posters wouldn't be taking a **** on him daily. His play and contract justify the amount of conversations are occurring about him. Nylander is proof of it, there were al ot of negative things said daily about him and now most have him as a fan favorite.

Nothing you said in this paragraph makes a lot of sense actually.

 

[MoreMogilny]

Marner looks like a shell of his former self.

There’s been no substance to his game whatsoever dating back to the playoffs. So far this season he’s done nothing of note. He gets the puck, and turns it over or gets pushed off of it. There’s literally no fight in his game at all. He has the talent - but is more scared of getting hit right now.

Outlook not so good with how he is playing. He needs to completely turn it around because how can you not question his heart being in it right now?

Might be time to swap him back to Tavares’ wing and pair Matthews with Nylander. Punt Ritchie to the 4th.

 

[stickty111]

I agree.

The best option is to put Nylander on the 1st line with Matthews. Let Marner sit and think about his effort by demoting him to the second line.

More than punishing Marner, it's also a good way to reward Willy for putting in the work.

Keefe said he's going to leave the top line for today, but I think if they don't get anything going, Keefe will split Matthews and Marner up for Monday's game or maybe some time in today's game. His comments suggest this is that duo's last chance to stick.

 

[DraftSchmaft]

Honestly think benching Marner could be the play. We did this his second year numerous times over the year and it was pretty effective as he finished his last 41 games with 40 points

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He doesn't need to be benched. He just needs to be moved to a different line so he can do different things. He's become a one trick pony. I hope nobody is fooled by the advanced stats. They're useless in this case.

Marner isn't washed. Keefe just too lazy to try anything new. Either that or Marner has some dirt on him so Keefe too scared to take his Matthews away from him.

 

[Budz22]

hits close to home

 

[DraftSchmaft]

There we go..... good job Keefe.

Wow nice to see. Might need to back off my Keefe hate for a little and see how this next week plays out. I'm willing to be won back.

 

[axlrose87]

THE HORROR!

Jesus christ you're soft.

They will be on the bench soon

 

[Stephen]

I'll tell you exactly what happened to him.

He got infected with the John Tavares syndrome---- put up as much points as possible while also putting in as little effort as possible. I saw it Tavares entire career here in NY and even as a Rangers fan he was a maddening player to watch. He could put up 3 points in a game and yet you would still come away feeling like he was capable of a whole lot more if he just crossed that line.

You are right Marner was such a buzzsaw on the ice his first two seasons and was doing it all even beyond offensively. He is a shell of that player and the biggest condemnation against him is that he is now softer on the puck than he was as a rookie.

My approach to John Tavares before he became a Leaf was always the Stamkos vs Tavares, Kane vs Tavares, Toews vs Tavares debates and I always found Tavares to be on the overrated end of the spectrum being the junior phenom that he was, the first overall pick, Team Canada WJC darling, franchise center type guy having never won as much as those guys or put up the same kind of points. Kind of like a Rick Nash, big deal in a small pond.

Obviously it was super exciting for the Leafs to sign him and the homecoming storyline was what we've been waiting for forever but it just seems like he's more hype and reputation and a respectable stats line than consistent 5 on 5 value on the ice shift to shift. Just a very underwhelming player.

 

[francis246]

LMAO.... what did he say?

unlike prior seasons I am not following leafs news as much this season unless it is posted of HF

he didn’t say anything that bad.. it’s being blown way out of proportion because people are frustrated with him. The reporter came in a little hot IMO and Marner gave him a bit of sass back and didn’t really answer the question of how he plans on producing. He said he’s not going to change anything. Which I kind of understand. Athletes are creatures of habits, they really believe in their technique and what has brought them to the level they are at. Could Marner make adjustments? sure! Ofc I hope he’s looking at different ways to be productive. But this isn’t a Marner issue. Many athletes are the same way

 

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

I think Mitch will be fine but if this it true it is definitely interesting. We should be giving the top two lines equal reps while they figure themselbes out at least.

 

[PromisedLand]

quite frankly I think that Mitch might end up producing eventually in the regular season but his style of play will not payoff in the playoffs

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

Hate to say it but arrogant and condescending are pretty par for the course with him and it holds him back.

A couple years ago when Mitch was still somewhat of a golden boy on these boards, I posted about how my younger brother had been working out alongside him that off-season and a handful of other times. I asked my bro if he talked to Mitch at all and he told me he tried to but he was very dismissive and generally a bit of a douchebag lol. This was before the contract negotiations, safe to say as big of a fan of hockey player Mitch that I have been, I can't say I'm in anyway surprised about the way things have played out for him

I'm sure your brother had more details about what was said or general expression but tbf, athletes and celebrities hate being bothered constantly in general and probably more so while trying to do a workout.

 

[613Leafer]

LMAO.... what did he say?

unlike prior seasons I am not following leafs news as much this season unless it is posted of HF

Same. I haven't watched a second of leafs games or highlights yet this year. Seems every leafs fan I personally know has similarly drastically reduced how much they're following the team.

Based on what I've seen on here, on reddit, etc about the leafs not showing up for the first period or two in multiple games, can't say I'm missing following the team right now. Raptors are much more likeable.

I'd be curious to know what their tv ratings have been and if there is any kind of widespread drop in interest.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

Honestly think benching Marner could be the play. We did this his second year numerous times over the year and it was pretty effective as he finished his last 41 games with 40 points

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Careful, you don't want to upset Paul

 

[Havoc]

quite frankly I think that Mitch might end up producing eventually in the regular season but his style of play will not payoff in the playoffs

I think if they stop using him like he's some beast athlete, he'll go back to putting up points regardless if it's regular or playoffs.

We're kidding ourselves if we keep using Marner like this. He has been blessed with all the hockey talent in the world but he has not been blessed with strength and size and I guess Bergeron level endurance.

Scale it back 18 minutes a night...even to 16 on nights we're comfortably in the lead and dominating (Tampa does this).... and I believe we see the return of Magic Mitch. Do I think they'll do this? No.

Maybe when Marner is 27-28 years old he'll be able to do it but at 24 he can't. We have seen it with our own eyes 3 years in a row.

 

[Menzinger]

I don't blame Marner for his contract, he can ask or demand but it's up to Leafs management to make him accept something in the range of his comparables

They didn't, now we are going to choke on it for the foreseeable future

Don't blame the child for being an entitled greedy brat, blame the people that enabled him

With regard to contracts I think there's a degree of responsibility on both sides. It is the GM's decision to balance the teams cap, and any spillover effects in terms of team structure are 100% on the GM.

At the same time, if a player wants a certain level of money, it comes with expectations and public/fan scrutiny. Marner wanted to paid like a superstar winger, and so he has an obligation to perform at that very high level. Or else he imo justifiably opens himself up for scrutiny.

Funnily at this point both Dubas' and Marner's future in Toronto for better or for worse will be tied to this contract and it's legacy.

 

[Clark4Ever]

I think if they stop using him like he's some beast athlete, he'll go back to putting up points regardless if it's regular or playoffs.

We're kidding ourselves if we keep using Marner like this. He has been blessed with all the hockey talent in the world but he has not been blessed with strength and size and I guess Bergeron level endurance.

Scale it back 18 minutes a night...even to 16 on nights we're comfortably in the lead and dominating (Tampa does this).... and I believe we see the return of Magic Mitch. Do I think they'll do this? No.

Maybe when Marner is 27-28 years old he'll be able to do it but at 24 he can't. We have seen it with our own eyes 3 years in a row.

Yup. Nylander should be getting more ice time anyway.

 

[Kiwi]

With regard to contracts I think there's a degree of responsibility on both sides. It is the GM's decision to balance the teams cap, and any spillover effects in terms of team structure are 100% on the GM.

At the same time, if a player wants a certain level of money, it comes with expectations and public/fan scrutiny. Marner wanted to paid like a superstar winger, and so he has an obligation to perform at that very high level. Or else he imo justifiably opens himself up for scrutiny.

Funnily at this point both Dubas' and Marner's future in Toronto for better or for worse will be tied to this contract and it's legacy.

I've got literally zero sympathy for Marner, he got what he wanted and now he gets to live with the conveniences

If the fan base eats him alive so be it

That doesn't mean I absolve Dubas of his blame in this however, if Marner has to suck on that contract so does Dubas for giving it to him