Mitch Marner
Mitch Marner is a very interesting addition to this list. For one, he is in a completely different position than any of the three guys before him. He is almost half the age of Thornton (23 vs. 41), not nursing a nagging injury like Simmonds, and has not had to endure the taxing miles and grueling game action like Andersen.
His inclusion on this list is for one reason: his contract. As everyone is aware, Marner and his family alike went through an exhausting contract negotiation with his hometown Toronto Maple Leafs last offseason, causing the former London Knight to miss the start of training camp.
Marner’s name was being constantly dragged through the mud and anyone who has ever played for the Toronto Maple Leafs can attest to the fact this market can be very toxic sometimes.
It was clear the situation stayed with Marner throughout the whole season, significantly dampening his play. Add in the fact he suffered a high ankle sprain causing him to miss 11 games of the season, and the recipe for Marner to have a down season was easy to see. Though it was only a down season in the sense that he failed to build on the previously seasons breakout – he did afterall score at a prorated rate equal to the previous season’s 90+ points.
After the break, Marner looked great in the Leafs return to play. He was dancing around the ice, creating plays left and right for his teammates, however, looking at the box score, he only registered four assists during the five-game series. You can’t really blame him though, the team shot under 2% which is among the lowest ever recorded shooting percentages in a playoff series. In fact, considering the shooting percentage of the team, four points was extremely good production.
This substantial time off will allow Marner to dismiss the season that was, forget the debilitating contract talks, train and refine his game, and come back in 2020-21 ready to prove he was worth the almost $11 million investment.
While the little hockey action over the past several months has been a sight for sore eyes for hockey fans, a silver lining is that with such rested players and them itching to get the season started, we might be in for some of the best hockey we have ever seen come January.