Except you claimed he couldn't drive a line. Play absolutely ran through him and he dictated the pace that line played at. The entire game-plan when he is on the ice at 5v5 is get Mitch the puck so he can create opening and set up dangerous chances with his passes. Marner was more important to how that unti functioned than JVR. I'm not saying JG wasn't better last year on his line, but Marner has more room for improvement and the gap isn't that sizable. I also never argued Marner drove his line at the level of Gaudreau, but he wasn't a passenger and was the most important player on his line at 5v5.Ok now we’re just arguing semantics. I’m talking about the importance of a player to a line. To argue that Marner with 69 points (many on thePP)was driving his line to the point that JG was is just ridiculous. Marner and JVR and to a lesser extent Bozak were equally important. JG was a PPG player who clearly was head and shoulders the best player on his line and the best forward on his team.
I’m not sure how I can make this any clearer to be honest. So at this point I’ll move on.
Gaudreau has played with a better offensive player than Marner has, at least center-wise in his career.