Quoting: blowing_the_zone
I think Marner is very likely a life long leaf, and that's a good thing cause he's a heckuva a player. He is having some struggles with his overall game, but like it was pointed out above he's on pace for 90+ points. So, points arent the problem.
It's true that the value of his contract compared to other players in the league kinda sucks, but that drama is over and we have what we have. No point in beating Mitch over his head with his very fat wallet..
The bigger problem, imo, is, like bcarlo points out, expectations. The leafs have more than a few things to iron out right now, but with the core they have they should be good going forward. It just might take longer than what we'd like.
Love mitchy, I think the narrative that he "drove" a line is complete nonsense but hes a great player, especially on special teams.
I think lowering expectations is silly. The kids didn't want to take a discount, they got paid, now they need to produce. No more "it's a process", if your a top 10 paid player you better live up to it.
It shouldn't be viewed as taking any longer. Need to try and win with Tavares in the back half of his prime and Reilly/Freddy on good contracts imo.
Management said themselves it was 5 year process when Babs came in. That that got accelerated at different points throughout those 5 years (34 draft, tavares signing)
This is year 5...