Keefe publicly criticizes Mitch Marner's play; he won't have to walk back his comments under Treliving
FOLLOW US
To a lot of Maple Leaf fans, Mitch Marner has looked off this season, for whatever reason. He has had his good games and moments of brilliance, but the simplest plays this season seem to be handcuffing him more often than not. To his credit, Marner has 20 points in 18 games so far this season, but his turnovers have been amplified because they have often resulted in goals against.
Take Chicago Blackhawks forward Jason Dickinson's first of three goals yesterday, for example. Morgan Rielly sent the puck up the boards and while Marner did have to knock it down, all he had to do was chip it out, but instead he held onto the puck too long before he was stripped and it ended up in the back of the net. Both Marner and Matthews have had issues connecting at 5-on-5 so far this season. Following yesterday's 4-3 overtime loss to Chicago, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe called out Marner's sub-par play.
"Just not executing at the level that you'd expect from Mitch. At times, he's had it. I thought after being challenged after the second period last night that that line, and Mitch in particular, had a better third period and showed some positive signs. But no doubt, Mitch hasn't found his groove here yet."
From Keefe's comments, it sounds like he called out Marner in the room between periods, which sometimes needs to happen. The last time Keefe called out Marner and the stars in Toronto, he walked his comments back the following day, likely at the ask of former GM Kyle Dubas. It will be interesting to see how Marner responds to Keefe's public comments tonight as the Leafs are in Pittsburgh to take on Kyle Dubas and his new team.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 25 | 356 ANSWERS Keefe publicly criticizes Mitch Marner's play; he won't have to walk back his comments under Treliving Does Keefe need to split up Matthews and Marner to get them producing? | ||
| Yes, they need a change | 245 | 68.8 % |
| No, they need to swap out Knies | 38 | 10.7 % |
| No, leave the whole top line together | 73 | 20.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
MUST READ
TRENDING NOW
