Player Discussion Mitch Marner

[Westlander]

Nice game, probably about as good as we can expect from Marner in the playoffs. He’s never going to be Doug Gilmour, despite probably having just as much God-given skill. He just doesn't have the same reckless drive to go charging into the fray all the time, he’s more of a cautious artful dodger type.

 

[Farsailor]

Good game compared to his other games this series. But lets not exaggerate.

 

[supermann_98]

Mitch finally played the way he's paid to play and they won. Hopefully he continues the rest of the series like this, especially if he's interested in continuing his career in a Leaf jersey past this year's playoffs

 

[Gary Nylund]

Marner and Domi were absolutely dynamite

Domi was hilarious on that 2 on 1. Telegraphs a pass, telegraphs a pass again, then telegraphs a pass once more in case anyone missed it the first couple of times and then passes it. Oops, it didn't work. Why didn't it work?

 

[Punch Drunk Loov]

Great game, love to see it.

 

[francis246]

Marner and Domi were absolutely dynamite

100%, I really thought they’d get more of a chance on the same line throughout the season but they have insane chemistry

Futures + a bad contract seems like the most likely trade if one were to materialize.

You have to think a team like the Flyers or LA would fit that then. Maybe even Ottawa.

But again would Marner have those teams on his list? It’s hard to know. But yes a bad contract that is a good buyout candidate or a 1 year bad contract would need to come back

 

[Tak7]

Doesn't this make nylander untouchable. He's the best puck mover / skater on the team

He's probably "untouchable" anyway, based on his contract, but I'd argue that Dmen like Rielly are much harder to find than players like Nylander

 

[ACC1224]

Great game, love to see it.

All fans do, some of the others around here you have to feel sorry for.

 

[Tak7]

Won't get carried away, but thought I saw signs of "pond hockey Mitch" last night, which is great to see - looked so much more relaxed, engaged, dialed in, and frankly, like he was having fun.

Hope he can carry that into Thursday. One game at a time.

Rielly hasn’t been a net plus in the transition game this series, hasn’t been good since he came back from suspension.

He can’t transition dynamically within a structured team system. He’s awful bringing the puck up on the PP, deferring to Matthews and Marner and Nylander with his slow profession only to drop pass. He’s terrible on the PPQB at the point, failing to be able to distribute it clean to either side of the ice. His skating looks bad and hobbled up. His off speed game is awkward and doesn’t control pace, just throws everything out of rhythm.

All he’s good at these days is an impromptu Lone Ranger rush like he’s just instinctively doing his own thing. Or he joins the rush. And he can’t shoot the puck.

When he’s out, we don’t miss him. And when he’s in, I’m not sure his offensive contribution covers his sloppy defensive work and terrible 2 on 1 coverage.

I don’t know if he’s severely injured but the quality of his game is quite poor. And the lapses in concentration are noticeable.

Thought he was much better last night - a few zone entries were down to him.

 

[The Management]

Biggest difference last night was the effort level and the willingness to engage in traffic rather than just looking for the perfect perimeter pass. Thought he looked good, hope he keeps it up.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Won't get carried away, but thought I saw signs of "pond hockey Mitch" last night, which is great to see - looked so much more relaxed, engaged, dialed in, and frankly, like he was having fun.

Hope he can carry that into Thursday. One game at a time.

Thought he was much better last night - a few zone entries were down to him.

Good observation. You're supposed to be having fun, in order to play well you need to be having fun and last night, Marner was having fun. So why is it so often the case in the playoffs that he looks like he's completely stressed out and wired tighter than a drum? Like game 3 against Florida last spring, that was about the most nervous I've seen any player play ever, then the next game he looked pretty good again.

I can't figure this kid out. Maybe down 3-1 he feels like there's no pressure any more? Whatever, he played well last night, looking forward to the next one.

 

[WillyC]

Right from the puck drop last night… Mitch was extremely focused.

That’s the playoff Marner we need.

 

[Gallagbi]

Tavares had a piss poor game before a lucky bounce ended to the front of the net which knies cleaned up

If your going to have a hate boner for Marner on a game where he was good, than Tavares should not be excused for being crap through 5 games so far.

Tavares needs a good game 6 and 7 still as does marner.

Woll played hero as our line of defense and tavares + knies the heros offensively today. Hopefully game 6 and 7 we dont need these type of plays and can get some goals to give us an eaay win

Tavares won a number of key battles, settled things down defensively and played tough minutes for us
Offense tended to die on his stick.

My read on JT is people want him to be more and don't understand what he's actually bringing

 

[Tak7]

Good observation. You're supposed to be having fun, in order to play well you need to be having fun and last night, Marner was having fun. So why is it so often the case in the playoffs that he looks like he's completely stressed out and wired tighter than a drum? Like game 3 against Florida last spring, that was about the most nervous I've seen any player play ever, then the next game he looked pretty good again.

I can't figure this kid out. Maybe down 3-1 he feels like there's no pressure any more? Whatever, he played well last night, looking forward to the next one.

Both are true, I think - he puts so much pressure on his own shoulders, that it cripples him.

We know that Mitch is very dialed into the narratives around the marketplace, whether that be him being on social media or through his friends/family, etc. He'll have been hearing for several days how everyone has written this core off, and that it's basically over etc., that might have just allowed him to go into last night more relaxed.

I remember going to the Centennial Classic in the kids' rookie seasons at BMO field, and basically all night we were watching Marner - he looked like he was having the time of his life out there. Kid in the playground kind of stuff. We haven't seen too much of fun Marner, especially since the new contract was signed.

The smile needs to get back on this guy's face, because he's an exceptional player that gets in his own way

 

[DarkKnight]

If you actually come here to talk shit after that game, you realize you're saying more about yourself right? Too funny.

 

[HarryLime]

He was good last night for sure

 

[666]

All fans do, some of the others around here you have to feel sorry for.

If you actually come here to talk shit after that game, you realize you're saying more about yourself right? Too funny.

I don't know how you guys stick around this cesspool when the Leafs lose. The haters come out of nowhere in droves. There has been 60 pages of whining in the last 2 weeks since the season ended. It took 2 months for the previous 60 pages and I thought those were pretty brutal. I truly believe that some of these people are cheering / betting against the Leafs.

 

[57 Years No Cup]

Domi was hilarious on that 2 on 1. Telegraphs a pass, telegraphs a pass again, then telegraphs a pass once more in case anyone missed it the first couple of times and then passes it. Oops, it didn't work. Why didn't it work?

I honestly thought that it was a ruse by Domi and at the last second he has going to turn for a quick shot on net. I was mistaken.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Mitch just continue to play defense .. no cutsy plays required .. no stupid mistakes which cost team .. let da boys grind out a win .. if you can help out on PP great if not just play defense .. as Willy told you just pack up all da BS minor/junior crap and play defense .. this is da playoffs

 

[Gabriel426]

You can see MM played with more jump last night.
Which is great to see. He needs to buzz around every shift to be effective.
With all the talk about AM having Bert and Domi to back him up. It seemed like whenever Bert and Domi is put on a line with AM, MM and Willie, they all seem to click.
If anything, I really do think we need more players like Bert and Domi as they do seem to bring out the best of our big guns.

 

[Gary Nylund]

I honestly thought that it was a ruse by Domi and at the last second he has going to turn for a quick shot on net. I was mistaken.

Ha yeah I can see why you'd think that. It's like if you're telegraphing pass so hard, you can't possibly be thinking that you're actually going pass it. And then he does, just hilarious. Not as hilarious as Marchand diving like a moron but still, pretty funny.

Mitch just continue to play defense .. no cutsy plays required .. no stupid mistakes which cost team .. let da boys grind out a win .. if you can help out on PP great if not just play defense .. as Willy told you just pack up all da BS minor/junior crap and play defense .. this is da playoffs

Exactly. Mitch needs to 100% abide by the KISS system.

 

[Antropovsky]

Both are true, I think - he puts so much pressure on his own shoulders, that it cripples him.

We know that Mitch is very dialed into the narratives around the marketplace, whether that be him being on social media or through his friends/family, etc. He'll have been hearing for several days how everyone has written this core off, and that it's basically over etc., that might have just allowed him to go into last night more relaxed.

I remember going to the Centennial Classic in the kids' rookie seasons at BMO field, and basically all night we were watching Marner - he looked like he was having the time of his life out there. Kid in the playground kind of stuff. We haven't seen too much of fun Marner, especially since the new contract was signed.

The smile needs to get back on this guy's face, because he's an exceptional player that gets in his own way

More proof that he isn't suited for this market or the leadership role he has - its that simple.

I can't remember ever in the past 24 years, this fan base feeling so sorry for a player as much as we hear it about Marner. Time to let Mitch Marner grow up and quit making excuses for him.

 

[Tak7]

More proof that he isn't suited for this market or the leadership role he has - its that simple.

I can't remember ever in the past 24 years, this fan base feeling so sorry for a player as much as we hear it about Marner. Time to let Mitch Marner grow up and quit making excuses for him.

I don't disagree with any of this.

However, what if this is Marner growing up? Progress and success in hockey is rarely ever linear.

Maybe this is who he is, and he's a playoff dud, and will remain that way for the rest of his career.

OR

Maybe this is the process of him figuring it out.

We won't know until several years down the road, so rather than just tearing into him consistently, which we all do (myself included), let's just give him plaudits for a decent performance that at least looked different to what we've typically got from him when the chips are down

 

[Antropovsky]

I don't disagree with any of this.

However, what if this is Marner growing up? Progress and success in hockey is rarely ever linear.

Maybe this is who he is, and he's a playoff dud, and will remain that way for the rest of his career.

OR

Maybe this is the process of him figuring it out.

We won't know until several years down the road, so rather than just tearing into him consistently, which we all do (myself included), let's just give him plaudits for a decent performance that at least looked different to what we've typically got from him when the chips are down

Several years more? Its been 8. Paying someone a top wage to learn on the job and hope they become worth their contract seems like a pretty stupid business decision. Though, Dubas, Keefe, Marner and a plethora of assistant coaches have been given this opportunity by Shanahan. Why stop now?

Do you think Bert and Domi will take a "team friendly" deal so we can continue to overpay poor delicate Marner? Hyman certainly didn't want to.

 

[saffronleaf]

Solid performance last night