The powerplay and breakout run through him, obviously he’s going to rack up more assists than the rest when he gets a touch on every single zone entry and cycle back to the point, that doesn’t mean he’s creating more offense than the others. He has by far the least goals because he’s afraid of getting anywhere close to the net.
That’s the real issue here, Keefe has too many of our systems depend on Marner performing at a high level, when he wilts in the playoffs like he always does, it simultaneously nukes our PP, PK, and transition. There’s a reason our special teams are consistently garbage in the playoffs, there’s a reason our top 6 gets hemmed in our own zone and destroyed by counterpunch offense when we do get set up. The guy with the most touches on the puck is wildly unreliable under any sort of pressure.