Mitch Marner's Inconsistencies Prove That He Should Be Traded

Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner has one goal and two assists in his last eight playoff games, which is simply not good enough. *Note This was written priort to last night's game*

No Toronto Maple Leafs player has been scrutinized in the playoffs than Mitch Marner, but it's deserved. When you make almost $11M and have 639 points in 576 career regular season games, you need to be one of the team's best players every night.

If you look at his point totals as a whole, you'd think that he's still productive (47 points in 53 playoff games), but if you look closer, it's easy to find the problem. The issue with his point production is that he's doing it in bunches, rather than consistently. In those 52 games, Marner has gone pointless in 20 of those games, which is completely unacceptable.

If we look back at the Leafs playoff record, the reason they continue to lose every series is because they can't close out the series. They can win three out of seven, but rarely four out of seven. When Marner doesn't score a point, the Leafs' record is 6-17 versus 16-13 when he scores a point. Sure, the team still has 13 losses when he scores, but look at how different that win-loss record is when he doesn't score.

During Toronto's Game 2 win against the Boston Bruins, Marner did not record a point and as a result, the Leafs almost lost the game. If it wasn't for Auston Matthews having argubably the best game of his life, Toronto would have been down 2-0 and in serious trouble.

Marner's Inconsistencies Are Costing Toronto Maple Leafs

So, as we look forward in this series and to the future of this organization, it's safe to say that as long as Marner is on the team, his play will make or break a playoff series. If Marner scores a point, the Leafs will most likely win the game. However, if he performs the way he did in Game 1 and Game 2, they have very little chance at winning and that's not a good recipe for success.

When your team is built around four forwards, with Matthews and Marner being at the vocal-point, both of them need to be elite if Toronto has any chance at winning, and with 52 playoff games as a sample size, I think it's safe to say this plan isn't going to work in the long-run.

Marner is an exceptional talent and is one of the best Leafs of all-time, but if him scoring a point makes or breaks a playoff game, you need to reevaluate your plan. His $11M in salary needs to be spent elsewhere, as you'll have a much better chance winning with a collection of people, than a winger who scores at a rate of every other game, ultimately costing this team playoff series, one after another.

Marner will play one or two good games in this series against the Boston Bruins and the Leafs may in fact reach the second round or further, but history shows us that his inconsistencies will cost this team in the long-run.

As such, he's the perfect candidate to get traded in the offseason and his return will make this team a strong contender next year and beyond.