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Why the Toronto Maple Leafs Should Explore a Mitch Marner Trade

By Jordan Maresky

TORONTO,ON - JANUARY 22: Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs warms up prior to action against the Edmonton Oilers in an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on January 22, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Oilers 4-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO,ON - JANUARY 22: Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs warms up prior to action against the Edmonton Oilers in an NHL game at Scotiabank Arena on January 22, 2021 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Maple Leafs defeated the Oilers 4-2. (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /
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TORONTO, ON – MAY 31: Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs   (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – MAY 31: Mitchell Marner #16 of the Toronto Maple Leafs   (Photo by Claus Andersen/Getty Images) /

Marner’s Shortcomings

There is no denying the talent the Toronto Maple Leafs  2015 fourth overall pick can show on a nightly basis. His dazzling display of playmaking and vision is easily top five in the NHL, where you can rely on Marner to be a consistent 100-point player year in and year out.

That high hockey IQ he displays in the offensive zone is also used to be a menace in the defensive end and on the penalty kill too, as Marner lead Leafs forwards in even-strength defensive WAR and played 20 more short-handed minutes than his next closest teammate (Ilya Mikheyev) this season (stats; JFresh, NHL.com).

I recognize the value #16 brings to the table and you can bet the Toronto Maple Leafs organization does too, but it is hard to ignore the massive red flag in that Marner consistently follows up stellar regular seasons with poor playoff performances – and it is not entirely a small sample size.

In 32 career postseason games, Marner has five goals. To put that into perspective, he has taken six minor penalties, five of which are puck-over-the-glass. Since he signed his 6-year, $65,408,000 contract on September 13th, 2019, Marner has gone 18 straight playoff games (dating back to Game 2 vs. Boston in 2019) without a goal, with only five even-strength assists in that time frame (stats; Hockey-Reference).

As unfair of a comparison as some may see this to be, but why did Dubas decide it was time to move on from Nazem Kadri? Because the team could not count on him to show up when it mattered the most. Now, that was due to him losing his temper with reckless abandon, but the sentiment remains the same with Marner: can the team count on him to show up when it matters?

A career 11.3% shooter, Marner’s shooting percentage drops to 6.3% in the playoffs, and while some of that could be attributed to running into good goaltending, at the end of the day, in a results-driven league, that is simply not good enough.

And since his shot has become such a non-threat, opposing teams can generally sag off of Marner and focus most of their offensive attention onto Matthews as everyone knows that is where he is looking.

I am not a fan of using other teams as a comparison – because it feels like copying your friend’s homework without doing the work yourself – but I am going to anyway. You look around at some of the best teams in the NHL, their best players/top line have multiple threats that will burn you with time and space.

Nathan MacKinnon has Mikko Rantanen. David Pastrnak has Brad Marchand. Steven Stamkos has Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point.

Off-ice, the narrative surrounding Marner seems to be changing as well. As a hometown kid, he undoubtedly grew up scoring big goals for the Toronto Maple Leafs in his driveway with his friends and after finally being able to live out his childhood dream, it could just be as simple as the pressure is too much for Marner to handle.

But even with all that said, no reason to explore Marner trade options is as paramount as this: how often does a player of the caliber of the Buffalo Sabres’ superstar center become available?

9 times out of 10, the only way to acquire a player with the talent level of Jack Eichel is through the draft, but when that one instance crops up, you cannot pass up the opportunity.

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