The Toronto Maple Leafs have now let both of their playoff opponents fight right back into their playoff series. First, it was the Ottawa Senators posing a threat to strike fear in all of Toronto's hearts after just not going away after Toronto went up 3-0 in the first round. And now, the Florida Panthers were able to win both games in Sunrise to even the series 2-2 before Tuesday's Game 5.
Now that some panic has settled in as they face the defending Stanley Cup champions, a feeling of "Oh, this again?" is starting to fester. Like a poison leeching itself into every single cell of a body, the general malcontent we have towards this team whenever they show any glimpse of having yet another year without any meaningful success that we can feel happy about, grows and grows.
But while past years have come and gone but we all felt that there would at least be some consistency on the roster, and we would just pray that the peripheral changes would be enough, this year is completely different. The big elephant in the room is Mitch Marner's contract status. The Leafs' star winger is a pending unrestricted free agent this summer and with that, has the freedom to sign with any team he chooses as of July 1.
Now, if Toronto was to suddenly find themselves in the Eastern Conference Final relatively soon, or even, dare I say, the Stanley Cup Final, we would either be confident that Marner would be re-signing with his childhood team to get even more of a taste, or that we wouldn't care if he stayed because of how much glory we experienced for the first time in forever.
But, after Game 4's shutout loss and the Panthers being able to control just about every aspect of that game -- controlling every entry and exit, forechecking like mad, putting a suffocating amount of pressure on Toronto -- the outlook is not so great. It feels much more likely that we are heading towards a second-round exit for these Leafs.
That's just what the gut is screaming. And because of that, would Mitch Marner really want to re-sign? If it was yet another playoff run ended short of even making it halfway to the Stanley Cup, does he love this team and have enough fond memories of this team to warrant staying regardless of playoff result?
If the Leafs lose this series, it is such an easier conclusion to make when Marner inevitably leaves. It's not that he can't also walk with a ring or knowing that the Leafs gave it their all to try and make the Stanley Cup Final, but it is almost certainly a lower possibility.
The easiest assumption to make is the Leafs continue to be a miserable watch, as the Panthers take control back of the NHL and feasts on Toronto to close out the series, even in a potential reverse sweep. And not to do some pseudo psychological theorizing, but would Marner even want to stay where somewhere he has experienced just pain?
Say, if he wants an easy path to that feeling of winning. Maybe there's some team out there that is willing to clear as much cap space as possible and override some of their previous plans because Marner is interested in their team. While this is a scenario where we would need multiple undecided things to go a certain way, it does still feel steeped in reality.
It is so rare for a hockey player to just be fine with losing so often when the games matter the most. Is Mitch Marner feeling that right now? Can he sense the looming playoff elimination changing gears? Why would he commit long-term tot his team that just can't get ouf of the second round of the playoffs?
If the Leafs fall to the Panthers once again, we might as well start saying our goodbyes.