Mitch “Magic” Marner Thread

[SeaOfBlue]

Said this in the GDT and its been said here already but... I think one of the best parts of this season has been Marner developing a well above-average shot. He's a shooting threat you have to respect now. And with 20G in a shortened season, it's something he'll make you pay for if you don't respect it.

Clearly not on the PP. Teams don't respect him on there at all. Easily the biggest problem on our PP right now, because teams can just swarm him and our PP dies at his feet.

 

[ZEBROA]

It would be better for the team if we didnt need him in all situations. And he would probably be a even better player. It is not smart to put all eggs in one basket.

 

[TheGreatOne11]

It would be better for the team if we didnt need him in all situations. And he would probably be a even better player. It is not smart to put all eggs in one basket.

But Marners basket is made out of magic.

And he's earned the right to be put in so many situations because of his skill, talent and will.

Matthews is the scoring machine that everyone loves, but Marner is the more complete player.

 

[ZEBROA]

I put Matthews over Marner. But thats not the topic. For the team it is better to have a few low cost pk specialist. If Marner goes down worse offence, worse pp, worse pk and some line juggeling on top of that to mess with overall chemestry. It affects the team more then it has to. Bigger risk for Marner to get hurt too.

 

[djdev]

I put Matthews over Marner. But thats not the topic. For the team it is better to have a few low cost pk specialist. If Marner goes down worse offence, worse pp, worse pk and some line juggeling on top of that to mess with overall chemestry. It affects the team more then it has to. Bigger risk for Marner to get hurt too.

its only a risk since hes playing more minutes so hes on the ice more to get injured, he doesnt block shots(outside of the epic playoff block)so its not like the PK is more dangerous for him than playing 5v5.

 

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

It would be better for the team if we didnt need him in all situations. And he would probably be a even better player. It is not smart to put all eggs in one basket.

That's where Nash comes into play. Start Nash and Hyman on the PK then flip to Foligno and Mikheyev, and then if you still need it maybe mix Marner in after that.

Having 4 guys that can PK can really set Marner up well to just focus on offense.

 

[Notsince67]

Clearly not on the PP. Teams don't respect him on there at all. Easily the biggest problem on our PP right now, because teams can just swarm him and our PP dies at his feet.

Can you at least watch highlights of the game before you make dumb statements like this. The pp looked the same without Marner. Not exactly your biggest problem.

 

[Notsince67]

Team goes as far as Marner takes them. They cant win without him and that isnt true for any other player.

 

[Joey Hoser]

Team goes as far as Marner takes them. They cant win without him

Love Marner, but there's no reason to think that.

 

[Notsince67]

Love Marner, but there's no reason to think that.

Look at the offense produced on the Matthews line last night. Then go back and see how the leafs played when Marner was injured.
Look at the games that they lose...when Marner disappears, the team fades

 

[cannucky]

Love Marner, but there's no reason to think that.

Other than stats , facts and reality .

 

[DarkKnight]

Look at the offense produced on the Matthews line last night. Then go back and see how the leafs played when Marner was injured.
Look at the games that they lose...when Marner disappears, the team fades

And why wouldn’t that be the case, he’s a superstar. It’s okay to admit you lose a stud, the team suffers. I don’t understand why anyone would balk at that suggestion. I feel the same about Matthews.

 

[Joey Hoser]

And why wouldn’t that be the case, he’s a superstar. It’s okay to admit you lose a stud, the team suffers. I don’t understand why anyone would balk at that suggestion. I feel the same about Matthews.

Of course the team would suffer. But to flatly say they "can't win" without him isn't justified. They still have strong D, 2 #1 centers and depth at forward.

 

[DarkKnight]

Of course the team would suffer. But to flatly say they "can't win" without him isn't justified. They still have strong D, 2 #1 centers and depth at forward.

So you would say we can win without Matthews as well? Just curious.

 

[saffronleaf]

So you would say we can win without Matthews as well? Just curious.

I mean, we have done that in the past. I think the team is deep enough that we can win games without 1 of Matthews or Marner, but if we want to make a deep playoff run we probably need both of them (as well as JT & Willy) going at the same time.

 

[Voodoo Child]

If you're saying 'Marner > Matthews!' based on one game against Winnipeg where they'd already clinched the division, their match-up and very clearly didn't give a f***, I don't know what to tell you.

Matthews is easily better and more valuable, but I've become fine with how much Mitch makes, he'd be the best player on every team except ours, Edmonton, Tampa, Pittsburgh, Florida, Boston, Colorado and Vegas.

He's developed a shot, but he does still have stretches where he tries to be too fancy and it does cost us.

I've been becoming inclined to think that Keefe does have a secret PP plan and he's waiting til the postseason to debut it, since the Leafs basically clinched mid-March, but if not then the PP sucking isn't on Mitch; Rielly has no shot and teams know it, and they do that p***y little drop pass instead of carrying the puck into the zone with speed.

4th in league scoring is excellent and he had an excellent season, but he's also got the most to prove. He's compiled numbers but never really been dominant in the post-season except once against Boston and they still lost.

I'm pulling for him.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Look at the offense produced on the Matthews line last night. Then go back and see how the leafs played when Marner was injured.
Look at the games that they lose...when Marner disappears, the team fades

Marner is a more impactful offensive player than Adam Brooks and that game proves it. It does not prove that Matthews is nothing without Marner like you want to believe

 

[moon111]

To me the goal for every player should be to outscore and outwork the opposition as a team.

Someone mentioned earlier how Marner had won all kinds of championships, etc... that just makes tuning him right for the NHL playoffs just that much harder.
Marner is very good... but he's not going to dazzle his way to success. At least not all of the time. He isn't some leaps and bounds better than everyone player.
You make a mistake, it'll cost you. And that WILL be the plan for the opposition every time he steps on the ice.

If he can generate the fancy stuff when it shouldn't cost his team dearly, we'll see a much better playoff player than his output so far.

 

[Stephen]

To me the goal for every player should be to outscore and outwork the opposition as a team.

Someone mentioned earlier how Marner had won all kinds of championships, etc... that just makes tuning him right for the NHL playoffs just that much harder.
Marner is very good... but he's not going to dazzle his way to success. At least not all of the time. He isn't some leaps and bounds better than everyone player.
You make a mistake, it'll cost you. And that WILL be the plan for the opposition every time he steps on the ice.

If he can generate the fancy stuff when it shouldn't cost his team dearly, we'll see a much better playoff player than his output so far.

Marner's best games are when he's hustling, making quick plays, going to the net and playing that scrappy but high skill game that people like to compare to Doug Gilmour. Where it comes unglued is when he goes Denis Savard mode and starts going for those spectacular plays that border on creative to chaotic.

 

[socko]

If Marner has a shot, Rielly definitely has a shot. Rielly has a better wrist shot than Marner, it's just that he's a defenseman. Neither of them have a slap shot, it seems that Spezza is about the only guy on the team that really has a dangerous slap shot. I wish we could have got Stamkos rather than Tavares.

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

Marner's best games are when he's hustling, making quick plays, going to the net and playing that scrappy but high skill game that people like to compare to Doug Gilmour. Where it comes unglued is when he goes Denis Savard mode and starts going for those spectacular plays that border on creative to chaotic.

Couldn't agree more with this. It almost seems like he feels like he feels pressured to live up to his reputation as a creative playmaker. We're so lucky to have this guy as a Leaf but he really, really needs to reign in the needless high risk plays.

 

[Joey Hoser]

So you would say we can win without Matthews as well? Just curious.

Is this a serious question? You think they'd go 0-82 if they didn't have one of those guys?

 

[DarkKnight]

Is this a serious question? You think they'd go 0-82 if they didn't have one of those guys?

Given how childish that response I guess it wasn’t.

 

[Joey Hoser]

Given how childish that response I guess it wasn’t.

How am I a child for thinking they could win a game without a particular player? WTF is this conversation?

Why do I even come here anymore?

 

[Notsince67]

Couldn't agree more with this. It almost seems like he feels like he feels pressured to live up to his reputation as a creative playmaker. We're so lucky to have this guy as a Leaf but he really, really needs to reign in the needless high risk plays.

Marners high risk plays often generates offense. It's TRUE when Marner doesnt play well, the team loses but it is rarely the cause of a team loss. It is usually because the team isnt doing much and he is trying to generate offense. I can point to more losses when Marner is not playing than games where someone can point out a high risk move ending up in a goal.
As for Matthews, the team actually has a positive winning percentage when he isnt playing. Not saying Matthews isnt hugely valuable. Against a really good team, he is the turbo charger on a decent engine. Without Marner however, the engine is misfiring. Marner is used in all situations for a reason.