With the possibility that the 2019-20 NHL season may not resume, a Tuesday afternoon conference call with Mitch Marner was as good a time as any to ask the young Toronto Maple Leafs forward to assess his turbulent and truncated year.
“Obviously,” conceded Marner, “the ups and downs weren’t great.”
During a year in which Marner said consistency was his goal, his performance — and that of his team — has been anything but.
When Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas used the term “Jekyll and Hyde” following the trade deadline to describe his team’s play, he could just as easily have been talking about Marner. On some nights, the playmaker’s work with the puck has excelled beyond almost any other player in the NHL. And then there have been nights when Marner is all but invisible.
The highs included a five-point game against the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 23 when Marner sparked an 8-6 comeback win with four points in the third period.
The lows included a no-show effort during the now-infamous “David Ayres Game” loss at home to Carolina. Following that game, Marner referred to his effort as “dog shit.”
Inconsistency and harsh self-criticism have been hallmarks of Marner’s season to date, one that got off to a late start.
Marner’s season began on Sept. 13, 2019, the second day of Leafs training camp, after finally coming to terms on a six-year, $65 million contract extension. Talks between Marner’s camp and the team had dragged on for several months and were at times acrimonious. Now there were questions about how Marner would perform with the additional financial security and expectation his new deal would bring.
“I’m from Toronto, I live here and I play here as well. So there’s pressure in that always,” said Marner after signing the deal. “You don’t think about it. You just go out and play hockey like you’ve done your whole life.”
Seventeen games into the season, Marner had found the net just four times.
“The start of the season, it wasn’t how I wanted it to be and how I wanted to play,” Marner said Tuesday, adding he didn’t start to feel like his “usual self” until Game 15.
On Nov. 9, Marner’s 18th game of the season — an eventual 3-2 shootout loss in Philadelphia — he fell awkwardly to the ice in the second period. He would miss the next 11 games with an ankle injury.
“Looking back at the video, seeing the photos, it could have been a lot worse than what actually happened,” Marner said on Nov. 12. “You always have to look at the bright side and now it’s something where I can get in that gym, get stronger and try to make my shot better when I get back.”
Without Marner, the Leafs stumbled. They lost six games in a row. On Nov. 20, Dubas fired head coach Mike Babcock, replacing him with Sheldon Keefe. On Nov. 25 the “Toronto Sun” reported that Babcock had once asked a Maple Leafs rookie, later revealed to be Marner during the 2016-17 season to list his teammates in order of who had a strong work ethic and who did not. Marner was shocked when Babcock shared the list he had submitted to his teammates.
“(What happened with Babcock), that was my first year, I didn’t really know what to think of it,” Marner said on Nov. 25. “But it’s all over with now, there’s really nothing I can say. I’m looking forward to the future and the new change and seeing how I can help this team win with Sheldon.”
When he returned to action on Dec. 4 — now under a new head coach — so too did the Marner of a year ago. Like many offensively inclined Leafs, Marner appeared unleashed under Keefe’s new system, looking dominant with the puck in the offensive zone. Under Babcock in 2019-20, Marner had a 5-on-5 xG% of 48.14 percent. Under Keefe, that number jumped to 57.46 percent.
In Keefe’s first 20 games behind the Leafs bench, the resurgent club won 15 times, led by a white-hot Marner, who during an eight-game point streak in December racked up six goals and 17 points.
The Leafs came back down to earth in January and February. Over a 27-game stretch beginning on Jan. 6, the Leafs went 12-11-4. Opponents developed an understanding of how to expose the Leafs possession-heavy style. This was never more evident than during an ugly 8-4 loss to the Florida Panthers on Jan. 12 during which the Leafs were subjected to numerous odd-man rushes against.
Following that game Marner let his frustrations be known.
“We need to wake up here,” he told reporters.
Marner still put up 14 points during this 11-game stretch and appeared to take on more of a vocal role.
“I expect myself to be a lot better in these types of games and knowing it was a big one, knowing that this team’s gonna come out like that,” Marner said after loss to Ayres and the Hurricanes. “That’s bullshit on my part.”
Throughout the season Marner was hypercritical of his game. After a frustrating 2-1 loss to the Anaheim Ducks on March 6, he called himself out for taking a foolish penalty.
“Stupid on my part there,” Marner said. “Frustration took over but that’s the last time that happens. I’m better than that.”
And as the noise around the team grew louder, and the Leafs’ playoff spot became more tenuous, Marner acknowledged the spotlight was getting hotter.
“As a team, we’re trying to stay calm,” Marner said after the March 6 loss. “Media’s a big part in the city we play in. For our team, it’s just about staying off social media. People are just going to start getting on us.”
It wasn’t always easy to get a read on Marner this season. Earlier in his career, he was often one of the more gregarious and forthcoming members of the team with the media. But this season his media sessions were far more brief. After losses, he often appeared to be the most emotional player in the dressing room.
The move away from the mostly happy-go-lucky Marner toward someone who appeared to be carrying the weight of his team’s inconsistency on his shoulders is one of the takeaways from his season.
On the ice, Marner’s production this season was essentially on par with his breakout, 94-point 2018-19 campaign. His 67 points in 59 games in 2019-20 had him on a 93-point pace over 82 games. And some of his underlying numbers speak to a strong campaign as well. His 5-on-5 xG% was 55.36 percent, the highest of his career and second-highest on the Leafs this year. His 5-on-5 SCF% was 54.83 percent, second-highest of his career and third-highest among Leafs regulars this season.
Moving forward, Marner said his goal hasn’t changed: to be at his best every night.
“That’s something that I take a lot of responsibility in,” said Marner, adding that he tried to be a leader this season after being named an alternate captain ahead of the season opener.
Few players have personified the up-and-down nature of the Leafs 2019-20 season like Marner. It’s an identity he’s keen to shake whenever hockey returns.
“As frequent as they were happening for
us,” Marner said of his team’s inconsistent performances. “It’s not
something we want to be known as, or want to keep going, especially if
the season does come back.”
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