Getting Rid of Marner Would Be Maple Leafs Biggest Mistake Yet
Maple Leafs fans are calling for the the "Core Four" to be split up, and being the closed-minded, short-sighted fanbase the we are, the name that comes up is Mitch Marner, because he is "easiest" to move.
With moving Marner, fans want the front office to bring in multiple players to replace mid-level players to replace Marner's value. However, that will not happen, and the Leafs already have the perfect example of that on their roster.
Look at Max Domi and Tyler Bertuzzi.
The Toronto Maple Leafs brought these two in this past offseason for essentially the same price tag as Mitch Marner. Starting with the basics, neither of these two kill penalties; Marner does. Neither of these two would be close to as productive on the powerplay as Marner, and in addition, Marner is a far superior defender to both of these guys.
Now if you look at their actual production, Marner has 85 points this season in 69 games, only five points less than Bertuzzi and Domi combined who both played 80 games.
This 85 points in 69 games is good for a 1.23 point-per-game pace compared to Domi and Bertuzzi who both combined for 1.11 points-per-game this season.