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The Toronto Maple Leafs had high hopes at the start of the Stanley Cup playoffs. They had finished in first place in the Atlantic Division, and the thought among many NHL experts was that the continued maturity of stars Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews along with the presence of hard-nosed head coach Craig Berube would work in the Maple Leafs' favor in the postseason.
Toronto was able to get past the Ottawa Senators in the first round, but the Leafs fell in seven games to the Florida Panthers. The Leafs may have had home-ice advantage in the series, but they failed badly in Games 5 and 7, and the result was yet another painful postseason defeat.
The Leafs have been postseason performers for each of the last nine seasons. However, they have performed abysmally in the playoffs. They have only gotten out of the opening round twice in that span, and they were eliminated by the Panthers in the two second-round series they played. Marner and Matthews have been dynamic and explosive regular-season performers, but they have fallen way short in the playoffs.
Marner is scheduled to be a free agent this summer as he just finished out a six-year, $65.4 million contract with the Leafs. The 28-year-old seemingly has multiple peak years in front of him and he should command one of the most expensive contracts in the league.
Maple Leafs have much to consider at this point
Toronto general manager Brad Treliving is not ready to either commit another huge contract to Marner, nor is he ready to part company.
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He spoke to NHL.com, but he did not explain the direction the Maple Leafs are going to take with Marner at this point.
“This isn't a deflection,” Treliving said. “I think Mitch is a tremendous player. I think he's a star. We're in that process right now. Mitch and I had a discussion (during exit meetings). My discussion was, ‘Let's take a step back, breathe a little.'
“We're going to meet as a staff, I'm going to be in touch with Mitch's representative. Mitch has a say in this as well. You have to prepare for every potential outcome. That's what we're in the process of doing right now.”
The betting in multiple NHL corners is that the Maple Leafs are going to make multiple changes in the offseason, and the biggest move may involve moving on from Marner.
While he is a very talented and explosive player who scored 99, 85 and 102 points the last three seasons, the Maple Leafs may not be interested in making him one of the highest paid players in the sport when the team has not been able to deliver any significant playoff success.
