Mitch Marner‘s playoff struggles are no secret. He has just one point so far in Round 1, and his game has backed that up. He’s not generating offence, he’s not being physical, and he’s generally been unnoticeable.
But this isn’t going to be another article ragging on the guy. The hate Marner receives compared to other Toronto Maple Leafs stars is wild, especially considering he has the best career playoff points per game of the core four (all are under a point a game).
He’s found success in the playoffs before, albeit not very much. And he can very well wake up and become the reason the Leafs beat the Boston Bruins. Lord knows they need the offence, they’ve fallen right back into their playoff scoring lul that seems to happen every year.
The difference with Marner is you can just tell he’s fighting it. When the playoffs come around, everything is harder for him. He can’t enter the zone cleanly, he can’t find passing lanes, and he won’t go into the corners to battle. His goals for percentage and expected goals numbers stay solid, but his minutes turn lower event. He’s not costing the Leafs, but he’s not really helping them either.
And the powerplay is just a mess. Without William Nylander, who’s out with a mystery injury, the roles get all messed up and they become way too predictable. That’s not Marner’s fault, that’s more of a coaching issue.
Let’s take a look at what’s causing Marner to struggle, and what he can do to improve.
Scoring chances are going away
In the regular season, Marner was on the ice for 13.4 high-danger scoring chances for at 5v5, according to Natural Stat Trick. This was actually his worst season since 2019–20, but still an elite number.
So far in the Bruins series, that number has dipped to 11.3. Not good!
He’s also at less than 50% in high-danger chance percentage, something that hasn’t happened in the playoffs or regular season since 2017–18.
The number one thing is zone entries. In the regular season, Marner can dipsy doodle around entire teams to create high-danger chances off the rush. He can set up just about anyone if he’s given time and space skating past the blueline.
But against Boston, and generally in the playoffs his whole career, that space is taken away. The Bruins defenceman have been told to put pressure on Marner all over the ice, and especially when he’s trying to enter the zone. If he feels he can’t dangle, then he flips it in and starts a forecheck.
It’s the smart play, dumping the puck and trying to win back possession in the offensive zone. It eliminates the risk of a neutral zone turnover, and gives the Leafs a chance to attack.
But it also eliminates everything Marner is good at. He can’t find a backdoor pass, he can’t try to go through a defenceman. He’s not a great shooter, but it also takes away any threat of a shot. It’s riskier to try to generate chances like this, but Marner is good enough he can make it work. He just needs to try it more.
And it’s much of the same once the Leafs do get control in the Bruins zone. Boston swarms Marner, taking away his time and space and forcing a lot of chips into the corner or passes back to the point. He’s not able to hold possession for very long, something he’s elite at in the regular season. His ability to find passing lanes gets almost completely nullified.
He needs to take more risks. Throw pucks to the net, try to dangle a bit, and make tough passes. Marner is elite at finding plays that look impossible, and he can do that in this series. But he has to try it.
It’s not like this whole thing is his fault, either. He’s playing with Matthew Knies and John Tavares, one who’s been getting smoked by Boston and one who’s lost all his foot speed. And the Leafs D-core is not able to join a cycle or support Marner in basically any way offensively. He’s left alone to create, and the Bruins know it.
This also leads into the powerplay struggles.
Marner should not be playing a flank on the powerplay
If you asked any Leafs fan what Marner’s biggest flaw is, they’d all say his shot. He’s not a shooting threat whatsoever, even though he’s scored 91 goals in the last three years.
So why is he playing like he has a wicked one-timer on the powerplay?
Without Nylander, the Leafs don’t have a right-handed shot that can play the flank. I get that.
But having Marner pretend to be a threat for a shot, then have nowhere to pass because the Bruins know he won’t shoot, is useless.
As the left flank, Marner has a few options if he gets the puck. He can send it down low, shoot, try to thread a pass across the ice to Auston Matthews, or send it back to Morgan Rielly. When the Bruins take away his lanes to Matthews or Bertuzzi down low, he’s left to either shoot or move it backward.
He’s not gonna shoot, so there’s only one thing he can do: send it back to Rielly and hope someone gets open again.
It’s never going to work, and I don’t know why things haven’t changed yet. If Nylander isn’t back for Game 4, Keefe has to move Marner down low and find someone else to play the left flank. It doesn’t even matter if they aren’t right-handed at this point, it’s not like Marner is winding up for one-timers anyways.
Of course, if Nylander does play, this problem is solved (hopefully). The Leafs powerplay always seems to disappoint in the postseason, but at least it won’t be because Marner is out of position. It’ll be a group effort instead.
Marner needs to use at least some physicality
We all know Marner’s game isn’t built on grit or using his body, but it’s the playoffs. The laziness in the corners not only hurts the team, but it fuels Leafs fan’s hate for the guy.
If anything else, throwing a hit will get the fans into it, and hopefully take some weight off Marner’s shoulders.
But this kind of stuff can’t happen. I don’t know if it’s Marner being terrified of getting hit, thinking he can finesse his way into a battle win or what, but shying away from the puck isn’t acceptable this time of year. I’m sure he got an earful from the coaching staff after that one.
It’s not like Marner’s a bad forechecker, either. He’s really good at using his stick to win puck battles, at least in the regular season. But in the playoffs, you can’t just throw your stick in and hope to come out with the puck.
For the forecheck to work, Marner has to learn how to use his body. I’m not asking for him to go in and hit someone, but pinning and squaring guys off are both things he could do. His vision is so good, if he can force turnovers deep in the Bruins zone, it will lead to Grade A scoring chances.
The Leafs look good
Even though they’re down 2–1, Toronto has outplayed Boston at 5v5. Even with Marner being a bit of a no-show and Nylander not playing, the Bruins have looked extremely beatable.
Special teams is threatening to end the Leafs’ season again, but if Nylander comes back and T.J. Brodie can work on the penalty kill, hopefully things can turn around.
It all starts with Marner, though. A couple of good games can turn the tide of the entire matchup. And with Matthews getting the tougher assignments, there aren’t many excuses for Marner to keep playing this way.
The Leafs should win this series. And Marner should be a big part of it. He just needs to play to his strengths and forget it’s the playoffs.
