The Toronto Maple Leafs are having a bad summer, but according to rumours it could be a whole lot worse.
The Toronto Maple Leafs were eligible to extend Mitch Marner on July 1st, but so far we haven't heard a peep about that.
Though 99% of Leafs fans are reasonable, the minority has a megaphone called Social Media and they use it to make it seem like really bad ideas are popular.
Mitch Marner is beloved by most Leafs fans. Reasonable people can understand that a player who comes back from a high-ankle sprain in half the time isn't going to be at his best, so Marner's sub-par performance against Boston this year should be forgiven. (Don't forget, the GM sat out the trade deadline and kept Samsonov on the roster).
After four straight seasons posting an elite expected goals rating between 56 and 63%, Marner was only at 51% this year, and was a big factor in the Leafs failing to score on 20 of their 21 power-plays.
However, his overall playoff starts are actually great (he's one of the leading point-per-game players of his generation and is a goal supressing machine) and he's not even had his age 27 season yet.
The Leafs can't trade Marner, but if they do, they at least have to make a good trade and the latest rumour is preposterous.
The Toronto Maple Leafs Cannot Even Consider Clayton Keller for Mitch Marner
I can't link to them because they are behind a paywall, but the Athletic has "Player Cards" that rank all NHL players overall games and offer a much more detainled analysis than just going by points or expected goals.
In these cards, Mitch Marner was rated a +15 last year, a year in which he missed 11 games and which I think most Leafs fans can agree wasn't his best year.
Clayton Keller's rating was a +8, nearly half of what Marner was worth.
A trade of Keller for Marner would instantly be one of the worst trades in NHL and Toronto Maple Leafs history. It wouldn't even matter what else the Coyotes sent if Keller was the top asset coming back, the trade would be an instant loser and only get worse from there.
Mitch Marner is a sure-fire guaranteed hall of famer. Clayton Keller is not, and that should be the end of the discussion.
Keller isn't even as good as William Nylander, and Nylander isn't even close to Marner's level. This is a dumb idea.
I would also like to add that after Nathan MacKinnon's eigth NHL season, he was considered a bit of a disappointment who couldn't get it done in the playoffs and who wasn't living up to his potential. He had never hit 100 points or gone beyond the second round.
Sound familiar?
The Toronto Maple Leafs need to re-sign Mitch Marner and take the short-term heat that that entails. In the longterm it's the best bet they'll ever make.