Mitch Marner

[DryKing]

I live in Toronto and watched Marner since he came into the league. Marner is a great player who makes everyone around him better. Hes also a very good 200ft player and plays in every situatuon. The knock on Marner is that when the playoffs come and the time and space get harder, Marner disappears. His playoff numbers will show different (he has decent playoff numbers with 50pts in 57 games) but thats why numbers dont always tell the story. Marners numbers from game 4 and beyond in previous series would seem to be non existed with his play during those crucial later games . Marner been the whipping boy for Toronto loses in the last few years,

I think the rep of disappearing in critical playoff games is true to an extent (same knock applies to Matthews), but I also believe he has turned a corner. Most recent example is how well he performed in the finals of the 4 Nations.

My sway is that the disappearing act is more a team problem than a Marner problem. Marner just gets the glory of being the fans whipping boy when things go wrong. Interestingly, roughly 5 or so years ago, Matthews held that role with the majority of Toronto fans claiming Marner was better than Matthews. Funny how it has changed in recent years.

In critical games where the series is on the line, Marner does seem more fitted to be a key facilitator (almost like a #2 or sidekick) rather than a game breaker, though.

 

[Bollocks]

I live in Toronto and watched Marner since he came into the league. Marner is a great player who makes everyone around him better. Hes also a very good 200ft player and plays in every situatuon. The knock on Marner is that when the playoffs come and the time and space get harder, Marner disappears. His playoff numbers will show different (he has decent playoff numbers with 50pts in 57 games) but thats why numbers dont always tell the story. Marners numbers from game 4 and beyond in previous series would seem to be non existed with his play during those crucial later games . Marner been the whipping boy for Toronto loses in the last few years,

Thank you for this insight. IMO apart from him being a very talented right shot winger, I don't see him as someone you build your contender team around and not that great of a fit either (who would be the finishers that need playmakers around them? We have none yet for first line apart from Kempe). We need more guys like Kempe, Foegele and Laf, not guys like Marner.

Now, sure, top end talent is desirable, but Marner has a star status already and that costs just too much. Can't see him getting less than 12/year, probably closer to 13 from a team that wants a big name player first and foremost...