Marner vs. Gilmour too close to call

Kevin, how can Mitch Marner’s regular-season points put him in the same bracket as Darryl Sittler or Doug Gilmour? I am a Mitch Marner fan from the day I first saw him play, but he and Auston Matthews play a predictable game. Matthews gets set up and he has the big shot. Marner is entertaining and piles up points beside Matthews, especially against the weaker goalies. I hope Mitch stays a Leaf, but he looks like a deer in the headlights in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Some day when that changes we can mention him in the same sentence with the players above.

— Jim M.

I put Marner in the same category as Sittler and Gilmour because I believe he belongs there. He’s regularly leading the team in points and among the scoring leaders in the NHL, like those two. He’s not the same kind of player as Sittler, but he is as close to Gilmourlike as the current team has. If you adjust for eras (using hockey-reference.com), Marner has had the third-best and 10thbest seasons by a Leaf in the last 50 years. Sittler had the best, Gilmour the second- and fourth-best, Matthews the fifth- and eighth-best. If you want to reserve judgment until he does something in the playoffs, so be it. But need I remind you, none of the above won anything playoffs-wise here.

There is all this talk about Rasmus Sandin replacing Morgan Rielly. Why can’t he replace Jake Muzzin instead? Muzzin is five years older than Rielly, gets hurt every year. Sandin would be a great partner for Justin Holl. I get that the Leafs would only save some of the money they would recover if they didn’t sign Rielly, but surely they could find a way to come up with the rest. Not sure if Muzzin has a no-trade, but there always seems to be a way around these things. — S.J.

When your hear that Sandin is going to replace Rielly, there are a few things at play. It starts with the fact Rielly’s contract is up at the end of the season, and he will likely leave as a free agent. So he’ll need a replacement. Sandin’s game is most similar to Rielly’s. Both came up as skilled, quick, puckmoving defencemen. If they trade Muzzin (he has a limited no-trade) that raises the question of who they have that plays like him: heavy, hardhitting, defence-minded. Right now, the options there are slim within their ranks.

I read today with interest your factual points that demonstrate the declining fascination the public has with the Maple Leafs. I agree wholeheartedly, and as a Leafs fan living in Calgary I won’t be renewing my Centre Ice subscription this year for the first time in four years. With the number of players who left NHL playoff games on stretchers earlier this year, the general lack of emotional or intellectual depth among the current generation of stars, plus HNIC’s maudlin and cringeworthy coverage, I’m taking a queue from my wise wife who pretty much now hates the game. Time for a good, long book.

— Jon H.

Thanks for the note. I’m curious how many agree.

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