I’ll be the first to admit – I was not a big Mitch Marner fan as a hockey player until the Four Nations Cup.
Up until the Four Nations, I felt that Marner was solely a regular season NHL player. The player who puts up over a point-per-game when the power plays are plentiful, the opposition is trying but not playing for their playoff lives, and Auston Matthews isn’t being heavily-checked. I’m more of a playoff performer type of person.
When the Team Canada selections came out for the Four Nations, I was actually disappointed to see Mitch Marner’s name on the roster. I felt that this level of competition would resemble the playoffs and the same level of pressure that comes with playing for Toronto would be magnified in an international event.
But Marner proved me wrong.
Canada doesn’t win the Four Nations Cup without a big Overtime goal by Marner against Sweden. Canada doesn’t win the Four Nations Cup without a beauty off-the-wall pass from Marner to Connor McDavid in the finals. Marner played in a lot of big spots – from the PP to some PK work and plenty even-strength. It started to don on me that Mitch Marner’s biggest downfall in Toronto wasn’t the fact that he couldn’t get it done – it was the fact that he had to be THE guy when being more of a Robin to someone’s Batman was a better-suited role for him. With Team Canada, Marner was surrounded by first-ballot Hall-of-Famers and didn’t have a spotlight on him like he did with the Maple Leafs. With Team Canada, Marner wasn’t carrying the weight of a losing franchise on his back. Marner just had to be himself, and that was good enough.
The Trade
After losing out to the Florida Panthers in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, panic buttons were being pressed in the 4-1-6. Rarely is it one players fault in a failed playoff run, but in the rabid media world of Toronto pro hockey, axes needed to be wielded and Marner’s head was on the guillotine. But when you do a deeper dive into Marner’s near-term playoff production, you’d have to question if the blame should be placed elsewhere.
2022-23 (per hockeydb) – – – 11 GP, 3G 11A 14 points
2023-24 – – – 7 GP, 1G 2A 3 points
2024-25 – – – 13 GP 2G 11A 13 points
By my count, that’s 30 points in 31 playoff games. Pretty darn good playoff numbers, considering points are way harder to come by in the post-season. Yet the narrative in the Toronto media was “Mitch Marner has to go” and “re-signing Marner at $10-12M AAV is not worth it”
Marner does a sign-and-trade, sending him to a team that he waived his no-trade for – the Vegas Golden Knights. The cost was $12M AAV. Why would Marner want to play in Vegas? My opinion – he could be a Robin to Stone and Eichel’s metaphorical Batman. Vegas is a team littered with playoff veterans, Olympic medalists, and winning pedigrees – in a hockey market that pales in comparison to Toronto’s in terms of.. we will call it volatility. It’s also a lot warmer in Vegas during the hockey months – don’t think that doesn’t factor in to NHL players decisions (wives/girlfriends/partners influence signings folks).
Toronto Scorned
It’s funny listening to these podcasters talk about Marner’s current playoff run with Vegas – aka the points leader in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Here’s an example . These podcasters are the same guys who – last May – were calling for this guy to be exiled to parts unknown. Some professional thought that it was a wise idea to trade a player of Marner’s caliber for Nic Roy – a solid player in his own right, but a middle-6 forward in the best of times (who’s no longer with the Leafs).
The Bottom Line
Mitch Marner – like him, love him or hate him – is a fantastic hockey player who, in the correct place/role/city/market, can be the perfect supporting actor. In Toronto, too much weight was applied to Marner – a player who is not on the level of a McDavid or a Leon who can carry a team to a Cup Final legitimately on his/their own.
The only way an NHL team can win in the Playoffs is to get immortal performances from mortal NHL contracts (ie Brett Howden 8 goals on a small contract, Alex Newhook Conn Smythe contender on a $2.9M AAV). The Leafs haven’t had those types of playoff performers in a long time, and it is the reason why they haven’t been able to break through that Eastern Conference glass ceiling (and don’t forget the lack of a true no 1 do-it-all defenceman that they haven’t had in.. forever?)
Until Next Time
AP