no I wont believe Marner will have changed or became more valuable if he has a good playoffs. this is a contract year and I've watched 6-7 years of his playoff performances. how does one good one prove to me he's that guy going forward and not the guy we've seen for the last 7 playoffs? I'll believe the consistency over his career then one year.
I also seems weird to me that you expect him to improve offensively at 28 and become a consistent 110 point guy when his 5 of his last 6 season have fallen in the 90-100 point range. could he have a great year and get 110 at some point in his next contract sure but he's been so consistent at 90-100 for the last 6 it's hard to see him stalling for so long only to get to another level in his late 20's.
I guess we just don't see it the same way.
I believe players and people can grow, develop and improve.
Right now, we all know that Marner can put up 100 points, play a defensively strong game, and kill penalties. What we don't know is if he CAN do these things in the playoffs and big games.
If he DOES play at a very strong level in the playoffs then we know CAN do it. Does one year guarantee he will do it every year? Of course not, but this is a relevant question for every player and contract.
Just because Matthews scored 69 goals last year, does that mean he will do it next year? No. However, years of history suggest he will score at a high rate moving forward.
That's the thing about Marner. He has demonstrated he can consistently play at a high level, he has also shown he doesn't do that in the playoffs. Once he shows he CAN do it in the playoffs why wouldn't we believe he now WILL do it in future playoffs?