One thing I like about this, and I'm not sure if it was intentional or not. The last 5 playoffs happen to be the playoffs in which Nylander was on this current contract, as opposed to being on his ELC. For Marner that would include one playoff on his ELC and 4 on his current contract.
If we are going by just even strength points, maybe 5 points are negligible. But when one is making nearly $4 Million more than the other, it opens up the conversation, as we are currently in a thread about a contract.
Marner's best playoff was in 2017-2018 against the Bruins and my oh my it was a hell of a playoff, even if it was only one round. It had had us questioning if he was truly the franchise player rather than Matthews, who had his worst playoff that year. Since then, I find you can absolutely argue Nylander has been the better of the two in the playoffs.
I have to wonder if back then, there was just way less pressure for him. It was still very early in the window, before the team was expected to really push for the cup. Marner was also insulated by veterans such as Bozak, JVR and Marleau who were expected to help contribute. Flash forward years later, the pressure has amped up due to constant playoff failure and the fact that he needs to essentially be the straw that stirs the drink for the team.
