Craig Berube's Comments On Mitch Marner's Absence Spark Major Concerns
The Toronto Maple Leafs are saying it's a maintenance day for Mitch Marner, head coach Craig Berube didn't offer a lot of positivity about his status for Tuesday.
Though the Maple Leafs have found themselves back in the win column and saw the return of two key players in John Tavares and Matthew Knies, they also lost defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson to a first period injury and the veteran blueliner is day-to-day.
But there was also another absence at practice, that being Mitch Marner. Though framed as a maintenance day for the superstar forward, there's some concerns regarding his status for Tuesday's game against Calgary.
Craig Berube offered no solace for fans and after being questioned regarding Marner's availability, the coach was unable to give a straight answer.
Craig Berube Unsure About Mitch Marner; Has Backup Plan
If Marner is unable to go, Max Domi will slide in and while it's not the most ideal pairing to some fans, they do have chemistry in the past and Domi is a good enough playmaker to give Matthews chances to score.
He still doesn't make up for Marner though, who is enjoying a career year and has become a very dependable two-way forward.
This year, he has 16 goals and 54 assists in 51 games; breaking a Leafs record set most recently by Doug Gilmour and Dave Andreychuk over 30 years ago.
A lot of chatter has surrounded the status of Marner's future with the Leafs, as he's an unrestricted free agent at season's end, and there's no real concrete decision whether or not he is going to re-sign or head elsewhere.
On the flip side, Domi has been playing way under his contract value this season. With only three goals and 16 assists, not to mention pretty bad defensive metrics; his $3.75M contract looks worse and worse by the week.
He's on pace for his lowest scoring output since 2020, and he's not hitting, blocking shots, and his one positive is his faceoff percentage (47.1%) which means nothing if he can't contribute elsewhere.
More than capable of scoring in double digits, Domi has lost all sense of scoring ability and he's not even shooting; he's on pace for one of his lowest shot totals and will have the worst shooting percentage of his career if he continues struggling.
He last potted a goal on Dec. 20, and has only 15 of his 44 games this season has he recorded a point.
The Maple Leafs can only hope for two things:
1) Mitch Marner's injury is nothing serious and he just needs a couple of days for a physical and mental reset and 2) Max Domi starts getting it together because if their MVP is going to miss time, it's about time someone stepped up to repay the favors Marner has given the team countless times this season.
