Will Mitch Marner become star?

[frizzer1]

Unless your name is Matthews, one player cannot dominate by himself, especially a set up man..
Marner needs wingers who can win some puck battles and get him the puck....
JVR scores but Bozak simply can no longer accomplish much of anything in the O zone....he doesn't maintain possession....he doesn't make good passes....he is just a guy skating around...
If marner's wingers could get possession and get in to him, he would show his magic..
The problem is that they don't have the depth ( yes, I said it),on this team..so who else could they use out there..
Kapanen is not on this team for some reason..so who else could be put on his line?

 

[Menzinger]

Why do you think Babcock would switch from a controlled zone entry team to a dump and chase entry team?

• #34,29,16,43,44 are our successful zone entry guys, the rest would just create turnovers at the o'zone blueline.

It was reported that the Leafs were doing some experimentation with their lineup and systems mid season because of the fortunate position they have within GE division.

Dump and chase isn’t going to be a long term solution for this team, it’s not built for it, and quite frankly wastes the skill of its key guys. It can be fine for a momentary solution mid game of teams as clogging up their blue line but can’t see it becoming a permanent fixture for the Leafs. This isn’t a team built for grinders.

 

[Battle Lin]

we all know that marner's body and strength will have to wait, and only improve with training and time, people mature physically at different times and some take longer

his game isnt based on strength anyways, but it will for sure help him...marner is a skill player and the main skill that marner is really lacking is a good shot, he really doesnt have a good nhl shot, like all his other skills range from great to elite but dam that shot is barely average, and he doesnt even look to use it, often passes up shots and over passes...really only two things, his strength and shot, holding him back from really breaking out...we'll just have to wait cause you gotta put in a lot of summer hours to improve those two things

 

[mapleleaf979]

Matthews and Nylander have each other and Hyman has a dedicated worker.

Marner has never had a worker on his line in 2 years now and he needs one. Marleau represents some level of a worker with some skill. Marner needs 2 new line mates ideally. The JVR-Bozak-Marner line is not working. The lack of center depth over rates Bozak's importance to this team. JVR has to go at the deadline at the very least. Moving him out will create a far more balanced line identity with him gone. I do not feel the Leafs will miss him, they do not miss Kessel. His compete level and being soft on pucks for a big man is swept under the carpet by the coach. I hope this is asset management. Its a huge mistake to re-sign JVR. Marleau-Gauthier-Marner would be better than JVR-Bozak-Marner but Gauthier wont ever get a look there due to paying ur dues mentality that Babcock uses. The JVR-Bozak combo is a dark cloud hanging over this team.

 

[hullsy47]

we all know that marner's body and strength will have to wait, and only improve with training and time, people mature physically at different times and some take longer

his game isnt based on strength anyways, but it will for sure help him...marner is a skill player and the main skill that marner is really lacking is a good shot, he really doesnt have a good nhl shot, like all his other skills range from great to elite but dam that shot is barely average, and he doesnt even look to use it, often passes up shots and over passes...really only two things, his strength and shot, holding him back from really breaking out...we'll just have to wait cause you gotta put in a lot of summer hours to improve those two things

 

[hullsy47]

Whats his off season work ethic like ?seems to me marner is getting knocked around more this year and its only gonna get worse
Hes taking some longer routes to avoid contact IMO

 

[Stephen]

He went into a big slump and a crisis during his draft year and needed a big reset to get things back on track.

I think his entire game has been a mess for most of the year and doesn't have a lot to do with his teammates. It seems like when he's too confident he gets these junior tendencies where he's making cutesy, soft plays and when he's down on himself he's a perimeter player who can't get rid of the puck fast enough, or ditch the play so he doesn't get steamrolled. When he's not moving his feet he's so easy to isolate from the play. His shot seems to have gotten worse this year. He's a physical non factor so when he's not generating offense he's like a useless body out there.

At least it'll be cheap to re-sign him at this rate.

 

[saffronleaf]

Matthews and Nylander have each other and Hyman has a dedicated worker.

Marner has never had a worker on his line in 2 years now and he needs one.

Great, put Hyman on Marner's line. Whatever it takes to get that plug away from Matthews.

 

[Polaris1010]

Great, put Hyman on Marner's line. Whatever it takes to get that plug away from Matthews.

Matthews still got 40 goals with Hyman as his regular line mate.

Hyman is not a high end talent, I think Matthews makes him look like a plug. The Leafs do not have a young Milan Lucic.

However, I would not want to see Hyman and Marner together.

We can already envision the play. Hyman, dumps it into the corner, goes after it. He digs the puck out, passes it to Marner. Marner seeing Hyman open in the corner, passes him the puck.

Hyman digs the puck out from the corner, feeds it to Marner. Marner seeing Hyman open in the corner, passes him the puck.

Hyman digs the puck out from the corner, feeds it to Marner. Marner seeing Hyman open in the corner, passes him the puck.

Hyman digs the puck out from the corner, feeds it to Marner. Marner seeing Hyman open in the corner, passes him the puck.

Hyman digs the puck out from the corner, feeds it to Marner. Marner seeing Hyman open in the corner, passes him the puck.

By now, Mike Babcock has voluntarily quit, and has left the building ...

 

[Stephen]

Problem with playing Marner and Matthews/Hyman is if they play that chip and chase game and grind it out down low in the corner, what's Marner's contribution going to be? He's not exactly the guy you park in front of the net, nor is he the guy who can engage in that kind of play. Seems like you just want to build a run and gun line for him and let him feast on line matchups at this phase in his career.

 

[Mr Hockey]

I am thinking Marner needs 5 or so games in the AHL, to get his game and scoring back. Give Kappy a shot at the Bozak line for a bit.

 

[stickty111]

Marner is pretty much a star in the league. He is going to become better and better and people/"fake leafs fans" wont be able to take it just like right now. Imagine if we picked the pathetic train wreck in Dylan Strome? Yikes

 

[OppositeLocK]

I am thinking Marner needs 5 or so games in the AHL, to get his game and scoring back. Give Kappy a shot at the Bozak line for a bit.

No, he needs the rest of the season in the AHL to work on his frame. Very talented but cream puff soft.

Not asking him to be a physical force, but right now you could blow on in him and separate him from the puck. Needs to get much stronger.

 

[stickty111]

No, he needs the rest of the season in the AHL to work on his frame. Very talented but cream puff soft.

Not asking him to be a physical force, but right now you could blow on in him and separate him from the puck. Needs to get much stronger.

Glad you arent the GM

 

[diceman934]

No, he needs the rest of the season in the AHL to work on his frame. Very talented but cream puff soft.

Not asking him to be a physical force, but right now you could blow on in him and separate him from the puck. Needs to get much stronger.

Do you watch the games at all? It is a serious question. Marner battles for pucks all over the ice.

He leads the team in take aways by a good margin people talk out of their rear ends about all the turnovers yet give him no credit for getting the puck back and he is the best player on the team in that regard and is a plus 18 in gw/tw.

Another FYI he has more hits then Mathews.

 

[MR4]

Ideal line for him & the team is Marleau-Matthews-Marner, followed by Leivo-Nylander-Kapanen at OZ usage of current Bozak line and then Hyman-Kadri-Brown.. We'll have to wait to see if Babcock ever figures it out

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Ideal line for him & the team is Marleau-Matthews-Marner, followed by Leivo-Nylander-Kapanen at OZ usage of current Bozak line and then Hyman-Kadri-Brown.. We'll have to wait to see if Babcock ever figures it out

i'd put JVR with Matthews and Marleau with Nylander-Kapanen. even if you're wrong, it's definitely worth trying to stack our top 6 like that to see if we can break out of being a bottom 5 offensive team

 

[puckIuck]

He will when he simplifies his game and hits the gym

 

[ACC1224]

Matthews and Nylander have each other and Hyman has a dedicated worker.

Marner has never had a worker on his line in 2 years now and he needs one. Marleau represents some level of a worker with some skill. Marner needs 2 new line mates ideally. The JVR-Bozak-Marner line is not working. The lack of center depth over rates Bozak's importance to this team. JVR has to go at the deadline at the very least. Moving him out will create a far more balanced line identity with him gone. I do not feel the Leafs will miss him, they do not miss Kessel. His compete level and being soft on pucks for a big man is swept under the carpet by the coach. I hope this is asset management. Its a huge mistake to re-sign JVR. Marleau-Gauthier-Marner would be better than JVR-Bozak-Marner but Gauthier wont ever get a look there due to paying ur dues mentality that Babcock uses. The JVR-Bozak combo is a dark cloud hanging over this team.

Correct, although I don't see either Bozak or JVR leaving this season, both will walk UFA.
You will eventually see Marleau with Marner.

 

[Stephen]

Might be interesting to see Marner play with Nylander at center, see what that duo can cook up and leave Matthews to fend for himself.

 

[diceman934]

He will when he simplifies his game and hits the gym

Do you really believe that he has not been in the gym?

As for simplifying his game maybe if we are lucky he can become the next Leo.

 

[diceman934]

Correct, although I don't see either Bozak or JVR leaving this season, both will walk UFA.
You will eventually see Marleau with Marner.

I see Mitch with Mathews real soon as Nylander and Mathews is not really working that well and Nylander could be an ideal winger with JVR and Bozak.

I agree that both Bozak and JVR stays but I can see us resigning JVR or moving him with Bozak walking away for free.

 

[Raging Bull]

He will when he simplifies his game and hits the gym

He looks noticeably bigger than last season to me. Not sure he's ever going to be much bigger, look at guys like Kane.

Don't want to take his creativity away, so don't agree with simplifying.

 

[Bluelines]

If he hasn't reached his peak by now he's never going to reach it. Such a disappointment.

 

[Mess]

Marner scored 5 goals in the last 30 games (last 3 months) of last year and has 5 goals (on pace for 9) in first 46 games of this year ,toss in 1 goal in 6 playoff game = 11 goals in his last 82 games played (full season worth).

This is also with sheltered minutes against easier QofC with favourable Ozone starts and PP time at present.

There has to be a hope among management that Marner can at least pot 20 goals a year to go along with his assists.