Gretzky was a similar player to Marner. He survived in a worse era.

I think MM would do fine.

(And NO I'm not saying MM is WG, just both are small/soft players that are hard to catch. And yes WG was small....6ft just like MM and probably 160lbs-ish when he first entered the league)
- Barb34

wait are you comparing mitch marner to wayne gretzky?



the game was tougher then but there were a lot of slugs that barely knew how to skate also playing then and some absolutely horrifically poop goalies too.

progress? the game has never been more boring to watch and yet you pay more money to go watch it. enjoy.
- LeafnsNxt2Godlyns

You know what was super exciting? Watching a "skilled" winger that could skate blowing by an immobile Dman and "rifling" an 85 mph slapshot from the blue line and beating a goalie clean.

a player like mitch marner has never been more manufactured by this league. they are basically playing high level shinny out there nowadays. the sacrifice of their body to win is far less and yet they want more money. it's laughable to me. but leaf fans keep paying for the insane ticket prices to watch a mere hockey game played on ice stamped with an nhl logo on it. i wonder how many tickets are corporate owned at this point. players similar to marner and johnny hockey out in calgary would never have made it in the 90's and early 2000's, but now the game has been overhauled from the roots up for the last decade and a half and here marner is. him da bestest!
- LeafnsNxt2Godlyns

Quit your whining.

The game has changed and plenty of people love the skill game. Of course there are people like you who prefer the old game....but guess what? The world doesn’t revolve around you. The game has changed for the better of others interests. And that is completely fine.

As you can see there are a lot more people on here disagreeing with you about it than not.

It sucks for you. Quit whining.

wait are you comparing mitch marner to wayne gretzky?



the game was tougher then but there were a lot of slugs that barely knew how to skate also playing then and some absolutely horrifically poop goalies too.
- LeafnsNxt2Godlyns

It was an era that even Vesa Toskala and Jonathan Berndela might have been considered reliable starters

Quit your whining.

The game has changed and plenty of people love the skill game. Of course there are people like you who prefer the old game....but guess what? The world doesn’t revolve around you. The game has changed for the better of others interests. And that is completely fine.
- Santo_44

I wonder how different hockey teams would look these days if there was no shootout?

It was weird how enforcers got progressively worse in the 90s and 2000s, with a few exceptions of course. But there was a time when guys that fought could play hockey, and well.

progress? the game has never been more boring to watch and yet you pay more money to go watch it. enjoy.
- LeafnsNxt2Godlyns

Why you here discussing hockey if you find it so boring nowadays? Go find something else to do with your time..

Hockey is much more entertaining now than "the goon days".

It was weird how enforcers got progressively worse in the 90s and 2000s, with a few exceptions of course. But there was a time when guys that fought could play hockey, and well.
- aminnes

Gordie Howe

progress? the game has never been more boring to watch and yet you pay more money to go watch it. enjoy.
- LeafnsNxt2Godlyns

I very much do enjoy the game now more now. I have always loved hockey and rolled with it as it went, but the awful plodding clutch'n'grab and interference of the 90's was crap. The way it was played also contributed to ending the careers of guys like Lemieux and Lindros earlier.

If you preferred the way it was, that's fine. But I think you are very much in the minority.

wait are you comparing mitch marner to wayne gretzky?



the game was tougher then but there were a lot of slugs that barely knew how to skate also playing then and some absolutely horrifically poop goalies too.
- LeafnsNxt2Godlyns

You say this and claim hockey is boring to watch these days?

Good God...

It was weird how enforcers got progressively worse in the 90s and 2000s, with a few exceptions of course. But there was a time when guys that fought could play hockey, and well.
- aminnes

Because they had other “goons” that couldn't play hockey on the other side.

There is a reason there are barely any goons left and that’s because the talent level his way higher throughout the lineup.

I wonder how different hockey teams would look these days if there was no shootout?
- golfingsince

I don’t think it would of changed much.

Everyone hates the shootout.

reason for this?
- LeafnsNxt2Godlyns

uhm

He he

Ffs this is gold Rick

connor brown had 20 and 14 goal seasons in a 3rd line capacity on the leafs deep roster. if you gave brown some of nylander's time and a 2nd line role (where he probably plays on marner's line), he'd score 20 no problem. probably a 20/50 guy like somebody else said and would only be 2.1 on your cap this season as opposed to 7 million and you could probably sign him to a cheaper extension than nylander's 7 million cap hit.

instead dubas said (frank) the advantage of these value contracts of kadri and brown, i need to keep future superstar william nylander for 7 million a year because he's a flashy name and matthews and all the TO girls and twinks love him.
- LeafnsNxt2Godlyns

Can you go check Browns points with Matthews and vice versa? It’s (frank)ing horrible.

I wonder how different hockey teams would look these days if there was no shootout?
- golfingsince

tyler bozak would only be getting 4 million a year

Can you go check Browns points with Matthews and vice versa? It’s (frank)ing horrible.
- Santo_44

I (frank)ing love connor brown almost more than I love hyman, but even a father needs to tell his kids they suck at some stuff eventually. Brown ain't a top 6 player.

Gordie Howe
- golfingsince

I remember Messier fought a older enforcer, just can't remember his name, when Messier just entered the league. Kicked the poop out of the guy. No one messed with him after that.

You know what was super exciting? Watching a "skilled" winger that could skate blowing by an immobile Dman and "rifling" an 85 mph slapshot from the blue line and beating a goalie clean.
- golfingsince

this is not mitch marner.

I (frank)ing love connor brown almost more than I love hyman, but even a father needs to tell his kids they suck at some stuff eventually. Brown ain't a top 6 player.
- TheMussel

He’s a bottom 6 player and he will do well in Ottawa.

But come on any competent person can see Brown was and is no where near the level of Nylander.

He killed so many offensive plays and he couldn’t carry in the puck to save his life.

I'm happy to answer this:

Because he held out asking for a ridiculous salary demand, and when he finally showed up to play, he was franking horribly out of shape.

If you are demanding $8 million per year, you should be living in the gym until the paperwork gets done.
- Atomic Wedgie

It would also be very difficult to simulate an nhl game while practicing in Switzerland every couple days.
With no insurance either I think it would be difficult to be going full throttle.

In the end it wasn’t great for his year given the holdout, but you can’t blame a guy for trying to make the most that he can while he can because their careers are short.

I still think his salary will look like a bargain, maybe even this year.

Quit your whining.

The game has changed and plenty of people love the skill game. Of course there are people like you who prefer the old game....but guess what? The world doesn’t revolve around you. The game has changed for the better of others interests. And that is completely fine.

As you can see there are a lot more people on here disagreeing with you about it than not.

It sucks for you. Quit whining.
- Santo_44

and that is why tv ratings are down across the board.

Because they had other “goons” that couldn't play hockey on the other side.

There is a reason there are barely any goons left and that’s because the talent level his way higher throughout the lineup.
- Santo_44

Fighting steadily decreased as the instigator was implemented. Even then plenty of skilled guys fought. I remember Armstrong running Koivu behind the net right after he had come back from cancer. Souray challenged Armstrong who didn't want to fight. Souray tuned him anyway. Got 2, 5, and a game. Armstrong got 2. The league did a number on fighting, as even guys that could play stopped doing it as it was such a harsh penalty.

Fighting steadily decreased as the instigator was implemented. Even then plenty of skilled guys fought. I remember Armstrong running Koivu behind the net right after he had come back from cancer. Souray challenged Armstrong who didn't want to fight. Souray tuned him anyway. Got 2, 5, and a game. Armstrong got 2. The league did a number on fighting, as even guys that could play stopped doing it as it was such a harsh penalty.
- aminnes

I don’t miss it.

It isn’t worth the injuries. That is plain and simple to me.

Why you here discussing hockey if you find it so boring nowadays? Go find something else to do with your time..

Hockey is much more entertaining now than "the goon days".
- LeafGuy89

i will take the leafs 92 through 2005 over anything the leafs did from 2005 to now. even back then i could watch non leaf games and they were entertaining now it's basically the same boring game being played everywhere.

It was an era that even Vesa Toskala and Jonathan Berndela might have been considered reliable starters
- lumlums