He's working hard and defensively, much improved over last year, but he just isn't built for dump and chase at all and gets knocked down so easily. - gravyface
He is going to be the young player with some promise that is thrown into a deal at the TDL and then scores a PPG in garbage time for a rebuilding team.
Location: I think I'll just sit back stage until somebody that matters calls me out.-King of HB Systemtool Joined: 06.02.2010
Sunday @ 3:02 PM ET
Grebenkin loves having the puck on his stick. He can be creative in 1-on-1 situations, doing his best to deke guys out and create a chance. He’s better as a setup guy, especially when paired with a speedy, skilled shooter. Grebenkin does an excellent job of cycling the puck. He’s able to shrug off shoves from bigger players, keep the play alive and then generate a scoring chance
REPLACE Robertson with him after they trade Robertson 👍 - mr.sir
Location: I wouldn't even trade [Marner] for McDavid -- UsernameUnknown Joined: 02.19.2009
Sunday @ 6:09 PM ET
I like this team
I like the way they are playing
Stolarz man, haven't been this confident in a goalie in a long time. - Santo_44
Yes guy.
PP is just playing downhill at Chief says. They're just going for it.
And man, when Marner is the guy (tm) on a line, he's worth every penny of whatever he's asking, doing it all at both ends of the ice and so much creativity.
Honestly I would love to try spreading 34/88/16 across 3 lines at some point and just roll 4 lines.
Location: Who Owzzzzz da' Chiefs?, ON Joined: 12.22.2014
Sunday @ 6:12 PM ET
Yes guy.
PP is just playing downhill at Chief says. They're just going for it.
And man, when Marner is the guy (tm) on a line, he's worth every penny of whatever he's asking, doing it all at both ends of the ice and so much creativity.
Honestly I would love to try spreading 34/88/16 across 3 lines at some point and just roll 4 lines. - gravyface
As soon as playoff Marner = or > regular season Marner sure but agree right now he’s playing very well.
Location: I wouldn't even trade [Marner] for McDavid -- UsernameUnknown Joined: 02.19.2009
Sunday @ 7:45 PM ET
As soon as playoff Marner = or > regular season Marner sure but agree right now he’s playing very well. - Cush29
Yeah, that's always going to be the monkey on his back, but these guys are so used to growing up being the best player on the ice, they kind of need to carry that swagger to be successful.
Location: I'm sick of your "I play real , NC Joined: 07.11.2006
Sunday @ 8:13 PM ET
Yes guy.
PP is just playing downhill at Chief says. They're just going for it.
And man, when Marner is the guy (tm) on a line, he's worth every penny of whatever he's asking, doing it all at both ends of the ice and so much creativity.
Honestly I would love to try spreading 34/88/16 across 3 lines at some point and just roll 4 lines. - gravyface
Location: Whenever, wherever, ON Joined: 06.27.2013
Sunday @ 9:29 PM ET
As soon as playoff Marner = or > regular season Marner sure but agree right now he’s playing very well. - Cush29
So without getting too contentious, I'm trying to be optimistic about Marner.
2016-17 he was 2nd on the team in points with 4 in 6 games. He didn't get a point in the final two games of the series - where the team lost both 2-1 in OT.
2017-18 he led the team in playoff scoring with 9 points in 7 games; the next closest had 5 (Rielly / Marleau).
2018-19 he was third on the team with 4 points in 7 games - honestly the whole team was abysmally negative - Hainsey was somehow +5, but Muzzin was -6, JT was -5, Johnsson and Marner were -4, Hyman and Matthews were -3 . . . yuck.
2019-20 he was second with 4 points (Matthews led the way with 6). This was the "play-in" round against Columbus.
2020-21 he was fifth with 4 points - behind Nylander, Kerfoot, Spezza and Matthews.
2021-22 he was second with 8 points beyond Matthews.
2022-23 he led the team with 14 points; Rielly was 2nd with 12, Matthews with 11 and Nylander with 10 were next.
2023-24 he was technically second with 3 points in 7 games behind Bertuzzi, Domi and Matthews - who each had 4 points.
Now I mention this to note that he has been effective at times in the playoffs, and I've said this before. The team historically drove too much of the top line's play through Marner - who is the key to Matthews. You focus on Marner, you shut down the Leafs. He was Keefe's engine - and Keefe didn't have a lot of variations in his plan. I am very much hoping that Berube can find more ways to drive the play in such a way that Marner and Nylander don't have to be the only two guys are going to be transporting the puck and distributing it. I'd like to believe that the emergence of Knies offers one such opportunity. A greater willingness to simplify in the neutral zone and dump the puck in and chase it down is another. A more robust forecheck has also been another.
I will grant that Marner has to take that step and fight through when things get tough - but I think if the team distributes the offensive breakouts and zone distribution, he'll be able to do so. I also sincerely think having a bigger body like Knies out there will open up more room for him.
So without getting too contentious, I'm trying to be optimistic about Marner.
2016-17 he was 2nd on the team in points with 4 in 6 games. He didn't get a point in the final two games of the series - where the team lost both 2-1 in OT.
2017-18 he led the team in playoff scoring with 9 points in 7 games; the next closest had 5 (Rielly / Marleau).
2018-19 he was third on the team with 4 points in 7 games - honestly the whole team was abysmally negative - Hainsey was somehow +5, but Muzzin was -6, JT was -5, Johnsson and Marner were -4, Hyman and Matthews were -3 . . . yuck.
2019-20 he was second with 4 points (Matthews led the way with 6). This was the "play-in" round against Columbus.
2020-21 he was fifth with 4 points - behind Nylander, Kerfoot, Spezza and Matthews.
2021-22 he was second with 8 points beyond Matthews.
2022-23 he led the team with 14 points; Rielly was 2nd with 12, Matthews with 11 and Nylander with 10 were next.
2023-24 he was technically second with 3 points in 7 games behind Bertuzzi, Domi and Matthews - who each had 4 points.
Now I mention this to note that he has been effective at times in the playoffs, and I've said this before. The team historically drove too much of the top line's play through Marner - who is the key to Matthews. You focus on Marner, you shut down the Leafs. He was Keefe's engine - and Keefe didn't have a lot of variations in his plan. I am very much hoping that Berube can find more ways to drive the play in such a way that Marner and Nylander don't have to be the only two guys are going to be transporting the puck and distributing it. I'd like to believe that the emergence of Knies offers one such opportunity. A greater willingness to simplify in the neutral zone and dump the puck in and chase it down is another. A more robust forecheck has also been another.
I will grant that Marner has to take that step and fight through when things get tough - but I think if the team distributes the offensive breakouts and zone distribution, he'll be able to do so. I also sincerely think having a bigger body like Knies out there will open up more room for him. - Monkeypunk
To add to your analysis of style of play and your post, the problem with the Leafs core players is not that they don't care (not saying you said that), it's that they care too much. The way the fans and the media react, they are absolutely petrified to make a mistake and they care so much about letting everybody down, that they can't play loose and can't play their best hockey.
The coach and/or the player that breaks that spell will be the one with the most playoff success. I think this is part of the reason why Nylander seems to have gone from sucking in the playoffs to playing better than expected. He's the one guy of the bunch that seems like he's brave enough to risk failure to achieve success because he has the correct amount of "I don't give a (frank)".
Think of Batman trying to escape the pit prison in The Dark Knight Rises. You can't climb to the top until you untie the rope and accept your fate if you fall without it. With Marner being a pending UFA, that might be the moment where he says "(frank) it, nothing to lose now".
