Thee Toronto Maple Leafs second best player, Mitch Marner, is having the best season of his career and should be a Hart Trophy nominee by year's end.
Is there a more underappreciated superstar than Mitch Marner right now? We shouldn't really be shocked at how well he is playing this year, but here we are. Halfway through the season and Marner is setting himself up to be, once again, one of the higest paid players in the NHL, and the Leafs should pay him.
The Leafs should 100 percent re-sign Marner tomorrow, as his play without Matthews has been incredible, which is why he should be a Hart Trophy nominee.
After scoring a hat-trick on Friday night, Marner now has 13 goals and 49 points in 36 games. That's an 112-point pace, which would smash his previous record of 99 points in a season. I know that Willy Nylander leads the team in goals with 23, and is averaging over a point-per-game, but Marner has put the Leafs on his back with Matthews out.
Marner Should Be MVP Nominee
And if I'm the Leafs, I wouldn't be rushing Matthews back anytime soon. It's clear that Marner can drive the ship without him and this confidence should only help him as the team gears up for a playoff run.
Marner is a beast and not only can dipsy-doodle all over the offensive zone, but his ability to play the penalty-kill and be responsible defensively every night, makes him a two-way elite superstar. It feels like everytime he steps on the ice, he's going to make a difference and that should really push him into the MVP consideration.
There are five people ahead of Marner in points right now, but none of them are playing at the same clip defensively as Marner, or doing it without their best player. For example, the duo of Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, as well as Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid are all ahead of Marner in points, but they've all been healthy, for the most part, all year.
Matthews has missed 12 games this year, yet Marner is still having his best year statistically, which makes his season even more impressive. Not only that, but Marner's team is leading the Atlantic Division and is sixth overall in the NHL.
Marner is 6th in scoring, just 10 off the pace of league leader Nathan MacKinnon. Marner leads the NHL in primary assists, and has excellent on-ice numberes culminating in a 53% Expected Goals Rating.
We need to give Marner our flowers right now because he's having an incredible season and the Leafs should pay him whatever he wants.