2020 NHL Season: Grading the Toronto Maple Leafs’ right wingers at season pause

Mitch Marner

Games Played: 59
Goals: 16
Assists: 51
Points: 67

When Mitch Marner is at his best, he is perhaps the most exciting player to suit up for the Maple Leafs.

No. 16 is a one of a kind forward in the modern NHL — a speedy winger who boasts incredible passing vision, the ability to quarterback a productive power play, the capacity to defend (as well as occasionally produce offense) on the penalty kill, a timely scoring touch and a penchant for firing up fans in a uniquely spirited fashion.

He can be an explosive force for the Maple Leafs and has demonstrated extreme productivity at the professional level. A quick look at his statistics illustrates the truth of this reality:

• 2016-17 season: 77 GP, 19 G, 42 A, 61 PTS
• 2017-18 season: 82 GP, 22 G, 47 A, 69 PTS
• 2018-19 season: 82 GP, 26 A, 68 A, 94 PTS
• 2019-20 season: 59 GP, 16 G, 51 A, 67 PTS

Few players can usher forth the kind of momentum-shifting dynamic that Marner has the capacity to introduce. For further proof of this reality, consider the following clip (wherein Marner leads his team to netting three goals in under one minute).

What prevents Marner from attaining a higher grade than some of his counterparts is largely a byproduct of a trying 2019-20 campaign.

After a controversial summer that saw the right winger sign a six-year, $65.358 million contract with the Maple Leafs on Sept. 13, 2019, a portion of the club’s fans seemed to turn on the player. Amidst the talk circuit of Toronto media, much was made of a Jonas Siegel piece in The Athletic (which entailed a string of head-turning quotations from Marner’s father, Paul) and a Dave Feschuk hit for the Toronto Star (which included attention-grabbing headlines from Marner’s agent, Darren Ferris). The ensuing contract negotiation rendered the Maple Leafs faithful exhausted by its conclusion — the implications of which loomed large over the club’s regular season.

After losses in which Marner failed to produce, the 22-year-old’s effort was at times called into question. Some would argue that such criticism is part of the cost of earning superstar-tier money. But few would trouble the notion that echoes of the tumultuous summer deal continued to hover over the player long after his contract was signed. In a discussion with Darren Dreger of TSN, Marner made it known that he was rendered both “mad” and “disappointed” by certain comments made on social media pertaining to his family:

"I expect this stuff to come at Darren and myself, but you know I saw a couple comments about my father and stuff like that no one is going to like seeing or reading…It’s pretty disappointing seeing people express themselves about my family and my family name."

As an observer from afar, I find it tough to refute the idea that a change in Marner’s conduct became apparent after the summer of 2019. He seemed to keep his guard up for much of the ensuing season and was left to shoulder a decent portion of the blame for his team’s questionable effort (an understandable responsibility for the assistant captain of an organization as influential as the Maple Leafs within the hockey world to undertake). Marner still had that explosive quality, yes — but he faced a far greater degree of scrutiny when he fell short of producing.

At the end of the day, the numbers continue to speak for themselves. Despite a challenging year for both player and club, Marner notched 16 goals and 51 assists for 67 points in 59 matchups — scoring at a rate that was better than a point per game. I hope that he is able to reset over the course of this pause and in turn come back with the ghosts of yesterday behind him for good.

Grade: A-