If you surveyed 100 Toronto Maple Leafs fans and asked them "Do you want the team the re-sign Mitch Marner?" I think 75 percent of the fanbase would say "No" which is crazy. I'm someone who flips their mind everyday when it comes to the Marner situation, but he needs more recognition for the season he is having.
With four games left in the season, Marner has 25 goals and 97 points. He's fifth in the NHL in points and is third in assists, only trailing Nathan MacKinnon and Nikita Kucherov in that category. Then right behind Marner in assists is Connor McDavid, so I'd say he's having a pretty spectacular season.
There have only been three players in Leafs history who have registered over 100 points: Darryl Sittler, Doug Gilmour, and Auston Matthews. Sittler and Gilmour are Hockey Hall of Famers, while Matthews most definitely will join them when he's retired, but I think so will Marner.
With 736 points in 653 career games, Marner is well over a point-per-game in the regular season, and is already one of the best Leafs in franchise history. If he re-signs in Toronto, he'll almost definitely beat Mats Sundin's 987 point total and will end up as the franchise leader in points.
Marner is a Mount Rushmore Maple Leaf
Marner is one of the most underrated superstars in the NHL and we should all appreciate the regular season he's having, but at the same time, I can understand the pessimism. For the past nine years, we've seen Marner dipsy-doodle his way through defenders and provide inredible offense in the regular season, but when the playoffs starts, that goes away.
When Marner and Matthews were drafted, many looked at both of them as the next Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, with Marner being the Kane comparable. In Kane's ninth season, he won the Hart Trophy scoring 46 goals and registering 106 points, not too mention that he had three Stanley Cup rings by then.
Kane had also won a Conn Smythe Trophy by then and was a monster in the playoffs, unlike Marner. Marner is averaging 0.87 points per game with 50 points in 57 career playoff games isn't terrible, but since he's averaging 1.12 points per game in the regular season, it's a huge drop-off that has cost the Leafs multiple playoff series'.
If Marner retired today, he would still be a top-five player in Leafs history based on his points totals, but he needs to be a top-two player when it's all set and done. The combination of Matthews and Marner has been a joy to watch for the past decade, which is why the playoff losses have been so painful. This duo should have a few long playoff runs and should have been comparable to that Toews and Kane combination, but instead, it's been one playoff series loss after another.
It's quite possible that we only have another few weeks left with Marner as a member of the Leafs, or it's possible that he re-signs for another eight years and we watch him retire in Toronto, but either way, we should appreciate how great he is, regardless of the playoff results.