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2024-25 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion

herman said:
https://twitter.com/x/status/1898492719195926627
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Wild revelation, I just hope Marner crushes it in the playoffs and earns his next contract. If he does not crush it I am not positive Trev would be willing to bring him back at the cap hit he will get. Maybe Marner will be the one who decides to sign elsewhere anyway. I am somewhat glad Trev is willing to at least entertain the idea of switching things up.

One for one both on expiring deals do you do it? I am not mad it didn’t happen but I am not sure I would be mad if it did.
 
cabber24 said:
"I just hope Marner crushes it in the playoffs and...."
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How many rounds of "not crushing it" in the playoffs does it take for Toronto fans, Leaf management and ownership to realize that's never going to happen unless substantial changes to this team architecture are made?

Getting Rantenan and moving Marner would have been a material step in that direction.

I have some hope that Stolarz and Tanev can provide some difference. But the Core are abysmal in the playoffs and will always be when they are playing together.
 
Chris Johnson's credibility with me took a big hit with his reporting about Marner last summer - something to the effect that he would be gone by October, etc.
 
If I had to predict, Marner walks. Barring a Stanley Cup run, he'll be fed up with the constant media attention and his perceived "they don't value me like Matthews" slight that his agent seems to love to take.
 
Zee said:
If I had to predict, Marner walks. Barring a Stanley Cup run, he'll be fed up with the constant media attention and his perceived "they don't value me like Matthews" slight that his agent seems to love to take.
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I don’t know. The way it’s getting portrayed makes it seem like his priority is to stick around. I wonder if the trade inquiry might have spooked him a little and made the possibility of playing somewhere else feel more real - especially since his response, per Friedman, was somewhere along the lines of “no, I want to sign here.” If he really doesn’t want to go elsewhere, that could actually spur him to be more willing to negotiate.

He doesn’t want to negotiate in-season, which is absolutely his right, but I think he’d prefer to stick around.
 
I could see him walk but I think he signs for around 13M. The hate for him on social media is beyond idiotic for no reason. It's really a shame because he is one of the best players in Leafs history.
 
I find it interesting that Matthews is pacing for his worst S% in his career, 11.9%, yet he's pacing his highest FO% of his career at 56.9%.
 
We know definitively that the Core5 as a group are not capable of playoff success.

We know that "Run It Again" is repeating the same thing over and over again, and expecting a different result. There is word to describe that behavior and thinking.

Marner is an incredible player....as are all of the Core5.....including Matthews, Nylander, Tavares and Rielly. We all love watching them in the regular season. But wanting to "Run it Again" by resigning Marner is..... [well you know the word].

Trading Rantenan for Marner would have been the best thing for this franchise because at least we would have a playoff proven leader who can go multiple rounds and deliver production amongst a mix of guys who have shown they are not capable of that.

But a management/ownership that is capable of winning a Cup would have made a trade in prior seasons before the NMC kicked in.

Since they didn't do any of the above, the most responsible thing to do is to let Marner walk. Or a sign and trade.
 
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cabber24 said:
Wild revelation, I just hope Marner crushes it in the playoffs and earns his next contract. If he does not crush it I am not positive Trev would be willing to bring him back at the cap hit he will get. Maybe Marner will be the one who decides to sign elsewhere anyway. I am somewhat glad Trev is willing to at least entertain the idea of switching things up.

One for one both on expiring deals do you do it? I am not mad it didn’t happen but I am not sure I would be mad if it did.
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I have to say, assuming the reports are true - I'm impressed that they were considering it and went as far as asking Marner to agree to a trade. Didn't think they had it in them to even consider a big move like that.

At this point I have no idea what will eventually happen with Marner but will worry about it after the playoffs. If the Leafs can get their defensive play back in order (including the goalies), this is probably the most complete Leaf team we've had during this period. The big wildcard is Matthews and whether he can get back to close to the goal scorer we're used to seeing.
 
Ozzie said:
How many rounds of "not crushing it" in the playoffs does it take for Toronto fans, Leaf management and ownership to realize that's never going to happen unless substantial changes to this team architecture are made?

Getting Rantenan and moving Marner would have been a material step in that direction.

I have some hope that Stolarz and Tanev can provide some difference. But the Core are abysmal in the playoffs and will always be when they are playing together.
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I still wonder about that.

Here's Leafs Playoff PPG adjusted for scoring era (45 or more games played to get Lanny McDonald in there)

Rk Player__________ Adj Playoffs PPG
_1 Doug Gilmour........ 1.39
_2 Mats Sundin.......... 1.00
_3 Gary Roberts......... 0.93
_4 Mitch Marner......... 0.92
_5 Auston Matthews.. 0.91
_6 Darryl Sittler.......... 0.90
_7 Gordie Drillon....... 0.90
_8 William Nylander.. 0.83
_9 Red Kelly.............. 0.80
10 Ted Kennedy......... 0.79
11 Dave Keon............ 0.74
12 Lanny McDonald.. 0.73
13 Ian Turnbull.......... 0.71
14 Wendel Clark....... 0.65
15 Syl Apps............... 0.63
(I've obviously forgotten how to do tables ..)

I adjusted for scoring after I grabbed the top 15 by actual ppg so some other Leafs might slide on this list and knock some lower off if I did it 'right' But I was lazy.

The core 4 last playoff got 16% of the ice time and 50% of the goals
The core 4 last playoff got 33% of the ice time for forwards and 57% of the goals by forwards
The D contributed 1 goal.

Marner to me is special because not only did he put up those numbers - unlike many on the list, he did a lot of PK. He is second to Sundin in PK ice time for Leafs forwards since '97-'98 or so. And unlike some on the list, he played a good two way game as his Selke votes attest.

To me, that reinforces the notion that the supporting cast is likely to be the bigger problem.
I feel like we are being duped by lazy media

Right now, there are only 6 other UFA forwards age 32 (5 years older than Marner) or less with a ppg of .55 or better. (less than half of Marner's 1.27 ppg)
There will very likely will be less UFAs by July 1

The Leafs have been stupid to play games with this player. If they lose him, they can't replace him. They won't get two .55ppg or better UFAs to sign for half of Marner's salary. Like the trade deadline, desperate GMs will be spending like drunks on the few UFAs left when July 1 rolls around.
 
herman said:
Except the team hasn’t been the one ‘playing games’ with these negotiations.
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Yeah, they gave him everything he could have wanted last time, and it sounds like they've already offered him a ridiculous contract this time as well. What more are they supposed to do. Sounds like the Rantanen offer (including trade request) was just management trying to do the best for the team, not "playing games with this player."
 
Chris said:
Yeah, they gave him everything he could have wanted last time, and it sounds like they've already offered him a ridiculous contract this time as well. What more are they supposed to do. Sounds like the Rantanen offer (including trade request) was just management trying to do the best for the team, not "playing games with this player."
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How do you know? Based on some tweets?
 
Chris said:
Yeah, they gave him everything he could have wanted last time, and it sounds like they've already offered him a ridiculous contract this time as well. What more are they supposed to do. Sounds like the Rantanen offer (including trade request) was just management trying to do the best for the team, not "playing games with this player."
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Please show us where they offered him a ridiculous amount? We haven't heard nothing from the Marner camp. All Marner keeps saying is he wants to be a Leaf but it's not good enough. I have no issue with him trying to maximize his value, just like 88 and 34 have done. Why do people begrudge Marner from doing the same?
And he isn't opposed to getting a deal done during the season. CJ was the one that has stirred the shit up...“My impression right now is that Mitch Marner is more than willing to go to market.”

Again, Marner camp has said nothing.

Earlier....
It is worth mentioning that TSN’s Darrern Dreger reported on January 28 that Marner and the Leafs have mutual interest in getting an extension done, adding that the two sides would move quickly to get something done if Marner wished to get the ball moving. He himself said that he is open to having his agent and Treliving negotiate in-season, which would inidicate that his preference is to remain a Leaf beyond this season.
 
Joe S. said:
How do you know? Based on some tweets?
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All bullshit because CJ said he believes Marner will go to market. Pretty big assumption and guess what, if that's the case, that's his right, he's earned it. But like I said above he's never said anything but wanting to play for the Leafs and is focusing on the year.
 
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