NHL analyst skeptical about Leafs letting go of Mitch Marner and John Tavares despite failed Core Four experiment

The Toronto Maple Leafs were dumped ouf of the Stanley Cup playoff in yet another humiliating Game 7 display. Their 6-1 loss to the Florida Panthers marks their ninth playoff series loss in as many years, with just two wins in this period.

Seven of them have come since John Tavares joined Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander, that got styled as the Core Four. However, with John Tavares (seven-year $77 million) and Mitch Marner's (six-year, $65.4 million) contracts expiring at the end of the current season, critics claim that Toronto should look to stir things up and bring in changes.

All four players earn in excess of $10.9 million annually and with the salary cap rising to $95.5 million for the next season, it is expected that both Tavares and Marner should get a salary hike.

They have the statistics to back themselves up as well, with Mitch Marner scoring 741 points in 657 games and becoming the fifth highest points scorer in history. As for John Tavares, even with his second team through ages 28 to 34 as a second line center, he has recorded 493 points in 515 games.

Their lack of playoff success has been alarming, though, prompting the need for change and Toronto to bolster its depth. On TSN's Overdrive, analyst Bryan Hayes opined that considering the team history and how they have dealt with failure, they will likely retain the Core Four.

"I'm just saying, I'll believe it when I see it with these guys. That's what I'm saying. It's not my opinion on what I think should happen. These are two different conversations. I'll give you my opinion on what I think will happen, or what should happen — we could all do a roundtable on that.

"What I'm saying is, the Leafs year after year after year have proven: do not conclude anything until they actually show you they have the stomach to do it. Believe it when you see it," Hayes said.

Hayes noted Marner's approach to the media, considering his family's point of view, was important to his free agency and Tavares' strong willingness to come back to Toronto.

---

Craig Berube makes feelings known about Leafs bringing back two of the Core Four

During the season end press meets, Leafs coach Craig Berube was asked whether he would want general manager Brad Treliving to go out and do his best to re-sign Mitch Marner and John Tavares.

While initially choosing to leave it for Treliving to answer, Berube opined:

“I’m not going to comment on that,” he said. “That’s for Brad to comment on that stuff. I’m not going to comment on those types of things right now, and I haven’t even talked to Brad about that. It’s hard for me to answer that question,” said Berube.

“100 percent,” he added later.

It remains to be seen how Treliving and the Leafs top brass go about re-signing Marner and Tavares. While they have to keep team chemistry in mind, it cannot be ignored that some new faces could be beneficial.