Marners start..

[saffronleaf]

People saying "PPG" haven't been watching the games.

Any distributor on the loaded PP unit can rack up secondaries.

If Marner was replaced with Nylander on the loaded PP unit as the distributor, I'm sure he'd have those points instead.

Marner's play has been unacceptably poor, and I have no sympathy for him. But at the same time, I'm fairly certain he'll get back into the groove and be a major contributor.

Right now, however, it feels like he's picking up right from how he played in the playoffs -- very poorly.

 

[crump]

He’ll kick into gear soon. Probably discombobulated from contract talks. Needs to loosen up, sing some Bon Jovi on the bench, get that impish grin back on his face.

 

[horner]

I am not going to justify Marner as he is not in groove just as yet, but my question is who has played as per their standards? except for our 3rd and 4th lines and to be honest our 3rd line has exceeded all our expectations

I know people are not happy with Marner's contract (including myself) but both Matthews and JT are both making more money. Tavares hasn't performed as per his standards and has been average at best and speaking of Matthews he hasn't performed like a elite performer and if the barometer is points then Mikheyev has most ES points thus far on this team. Even Rielly hasn't performed as expected

My point is they are all under performing and they are all going to bounc back, we should talk about team in whole, rather then picking on one individual

I agree.
They all need to step.
The bottom 6 has been grt.

 

[Rogue Leader]

What I am saying is that Marner has never been a natural goal scorer (reference Ovechkin). His game should be based around playmaking and creating opportunities for teammates, I don't think there is any doubt there. The fact that he has started to shoot the puck will be good for us down the road, since opposing goalkeepers will not be disregarding the fact that he might shoot the puck. His game will stabilize as the season goes on. I am not discussing his contract, since it has been already signed and it is what it is. We can't do anything about it, but hope that he will be able to live up to it. Neverthless it is very concerning that the abssence of Hyman is real.

 

[sparxx87]

The sooner they get rid of him the better.

Hard to win with selfish players and he’ll never provide good value-per-dollar in a cap world. The team is far more unlikable with him on it and would be better served trading him for players that actually affect winning in more than just the assist column.

David Savard
Josh Anderson
Boone Jenner

for

Mitchell Marner
___________ ?

 

[Nithoniniel]

His point production is good. His underlying numbers are honestly quite fine too. But you can really see that something is wrong. People talk about his slow start before but he's always been playing rather good, just not getting results. Now he is making so many bad decisions with the puck. He's killed offense in a way I honestly don't think I've seen from him as an NHLer. He throws weak shots from bad positions way, way too much. He's missed passes in a way we didn't see all season last year, and some of them haven't been close.

I think we need to acknowledge that while also acknowledging how little a 6 game sample actually means. I'm willing to bet that our worries will look silly sooner rather than later. He didn't stop being a star and one of the best playmakers in the league. A slump is just a slump. But right now he's a PP specialist for us, and to be honest he's been mostly a beneficiary of other peoples play there too.

 

[Its not your fault]

Marner wants to shoot more he needs to spend time on his shot. He should already know this though I have faith this wasn't an oversight when he signed the contract that they would ask him to strengthen his week areas. That said read a comment about him not being himself in the playoffs might be a mental issue he's probably had more outside advice in the last 6 months then he has ever accured in his first 22 years. He might just not behimself but he asked for the money so he's got to find himself again. This is where boys become Men.

 

[Leafsfan74]

Not worth 10.893m per yet, not even a little bit.

He never was, at least on the open market, but this is Toronto. Nor were Matthews and Nylanders contracts. Only Taveres really earned it, because he was in a bidding war after years of being in the spotlight and performing. The new NHL is going to be "front loaded" contract wise over a players career.

I said from the outset this year, individual stats should mean little to us as fans, win in the playoffs or nobody will care. Will anyone care about TB's individual numbers last year after being swept in the first round?

DO what you must to win. Be it goals and assists, blocked shots, important face off wins or big hits.

 

[Griffin76]

It's all Kapanen's fault.

 

[A1LeafNation]

He never was, at least on the open market, but this is Toronto. Nor were Matthews and Nylanders contracts. Only Taveres really earned it, because he was in a bidding war after years of being in the spotlight and performing. The new NHL is going to be "front loaded" contract wise over a players career.

I said from the outset this year, individual stats should mean little to us as fans, win in the playoffs or nobody will care. Will anyone care about TB's individual numbers last year after being swept in the first round?

DO what you must to win. Be it goals and assists, blocked shots, important face off wins or big hits.

At least Matthews and Nylander playing up to their value so far...

Marner looking like a greedy little player. He should have taken what Rantanen got.

 

[moon111]

To me, Babcock has been presenting a journey to Matthews which hasn't always been the easiest, but it makes me wonder, if it's all been about making him get better and better.
I wonder if he'll will win a Selke down the road?
Marner has seemed free to be Marner. I'm not sure he's really progressed. He's been defined and analyzed and the entire league is motivated to using that information to shut him down.

 

[Nineteen67]

He’d better get going or the Leafs are giving up a decent draft pick. They’re hovering in the 10-15 range now and if he continues to struggle they may slip into bottom 10

 

[The Iceman]

I think Marner and his team/dad looked at his goal scoring last season and seen that it was up along with his shots. Next step to an All Star berth is score more.
Increase the shots even more this year to make a run at 30 goals.

Mitch has just thrown the puck at the net a bunch of times with his whiffle ball shot just to get a shot.
Here is hoping he just goes back to magic Mitch and lets the goals come a little more organically and not forced.

 

[egd27]

Last year he was a hero with a 1.15 ppg.......now he's dud with a 1.00 ppg in a 6 GAME sample.

I get he's overpaid, but whether he got 9M or 12M, getting more money doesn't add to your abilities.

Maybe give it at least a 20 games sample before passing judgement his season.

 

[ImpartialNHLfan]

He got his, that's all he cares about. Maybe he'll dominate again during his next contract year.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Only a point per game. Embarrassing!

Great, Leafs paid almost 11m a year to a ppg winger. That's the problem.

 

[LeafGrief]

He’s looked awful despite picking up some PP points. Most concerning to me is that he has frequently looked uninterested and disengaged. He’s shown sparks at times, but he’s largely been a passenger and completely ineffective. It’s bizarre to see him throwing pucks away with low percentage shots and brutal passes. Whatever the genesis of this slump is, be it pressure, bad luck, or another slow start, we need him to get going.

He hasn’t been helped by his linemates slow starts either, but he argued for enough money that the expectations are sky high. Matthews is playing like a man possessed, Marner needs to get his head out of his butt and get playing.

 

[ottomaddox]

Our boy Mitch hasn't exactly set the world on fire since announcing his shiny new contract. He is definitely shooting the puck more. Good thing or bad? Should he go back to his passing game and continue to make the most incredible passes on the planet? Or do you like him shooting more?

My problem is that he's clearly out of shape. His speed and skating is not there. Your speed and skating have to be there if your going to be small in the NHL

 

[Ciao]

Our boy Mitch hasn't exactly set the world on fire since announcing his shiny new contract. He is definitely shooting the puck more. Good thing or bad? Should he go back to his passing game and continue to make the most incredible passes on the planet? Or do you like him shooting more?

His shot is a muffin. He needs to work on that.

 

[Ciao]

Mitch knows what he signed up for. I hope for his sake and the Leafs sake he is able to deliver, but if he fails to do so and gets eaten alive by media and fans I won't really have much sympathy for him after how things went this summer, just saying.

I'm kind of indifferent to him too at this point. He used up a lot of goodwill this summer, and it would take a lot to earn that back.

I just watch hockey for fun and entertainment. What actually happens doesn't mean much, if anything, to me beyond that.

If Marner should crash and burn I couldn't really care less, but if he succeeds and wins the Conn Smythe Trophy any time soon I will shamelessly jump back on that bandwagon.

$10,9893,000 is a lot of bananas, but it can't buy you success, respect or peace of mind. You have to earn those things in other ways.

I will say that he is the champion of the contract-negotiaton and screw-your-teammates events.

 

[Mess]

Top 5 highest paid forward in the game is weighing heavily on his shoulders. IMO

It happens were a player is trying to live up to and validate his contract, because he knows he will face the music and media if he doesn't. There isn't anyone not related to Marner that doesn't know he is overpaid.

Marner because he is also not a goal scorer but a playmaker, he requires others to put the puck in the net for him to put up stats so being reliant on others and is why proven goal scorers make more money as primary scoring sources as opposed to secondary.

Toss in winger vs centre debates on more valuable to teams, a situation where Marner has created a scenario for himself where his play will constantly be under a magnifying glass and scrutiny.

Marner will constantly need to show 110% effort and be relevant in games and not just pile up points against the weak non playoff teams, but against the top cup competitive teams.

 

[shortfuze]

I can’t remember but doesn’t marner usually start cold. He’ll pick it up soon enough.

 

[Ciao]

He now needs to be something special that, at present, he is not.

 

[Its not your fault]

He’d better get going or the Leafs are giving up a decent draft pick. They’re hovering in the 10-15 range now and if he continues to struggle they may slip into bottom 10

If that happens and seems to be a continuous trend and not just the first corner in the the horse race. Changes will be made ie. Firing of Babcock or a trade that we really didn't see coming otherwise this team will tinker and still not finishing looking like it started the year. I'll guess those thinkers won't be drastic but they will still be of note.

 

[Al14]

The sooner they get rid of him the better.

Hard to win with selfish players and he’ll never provide good value-per-dollar in a cap world. The team is far more unlikable with him on it and would be better served trading him for players that actually affect winning in more than just the assist column.

David Savard
Josh Anderson
Boone Jenner

for

Mitchell Marner
___________ ?

I agree, just for his selfishness alone, he should find himself playing elsewhere.

I also think his dad will be poisonous to the team for the duration of his career. Get rid of them both.

Now, having typed the above, my preference is that he lives up to his contract for the duration.