Think back 10 years. If you told an 18-year-old Mitch Marner that the Toronto Maple Leafs wouldn’t win a Cup with their exciting young core of him, Auston Matthews, and William Nylander, I don’t think he’d believe you. I don’t think the writers for The Hockey News at the time would either. Back then, I don’t think a lot of the fans would’ve believed you. Here’s the craziest part: in 2026, hometown boy Mitch Marner has become public enemy number one among Leafs fans.
Last summer, Marner was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights ahead of his unrestricted free agency on July 1, 2025. At the time, a lot of Leaf fans had a “good riddance” mentality when it came to that trade. That’s because in Toronto, Marner had built a reputation for himself. His reputation was that he was going to light it up in the regular season, being a career 90–100 point guy for the Leafs, but when it came to the playoffs, he’d disappear. Which drove fans and members of the media insane because when the core four era started, the expectation was… a dynasty!
Sour On Both Sides: Marner’s Unrestricted Free Agency Fallout
In an interview with Mark Masters from TSN last summer, Marner didn’t come across well. He said he loved his time with the Leafs, and then, in the very next answer, he basically ripped into the fan base. He talked about some “toxicity” that comes with playing in Toronto and in a Canadian market—he talked about his address being leaked online after Game 7 against the Florida Panthers and about having “full-time security” at his house for two weeks following the Leafs’ elimination. Marner didn’t say explicitly, but it definitely seemed like the fan base was a key factor in his departure.
He’s not the only person who feels that way; many players avoid playing in Canada to stay out of the spotlight. Some people thought after the Mark Masters interview that since Marner would be under less pressure in Vegas, he’d be even better than he was for the Leafs.
Many people, Mitch included, thought he had a bad case of what non-Leafs fans call “Toronto syndrome.” However, so far in the playoffs, Marner has three points in four games for Vegas in their first-round series against the Utah Mammoth. Some of you may be happy to hear that only one of his three assists is a primary assist. The other two are what Spittin’ Chiclets call “Whitney assists,” where Ryan Whitney would pass to Sidney Crosby and he’d just go end to end and score.
We’ve already talked in a previous article about why Marner and the Leafs failed during the core four experiment. It’s unfair to call Marner not a playoff performer and not hold Matthews, Nylander, and Tavares to the same standard. However, Marner is now in a smaller market with less media attention, as he wanted. With a whole new batch of teammates, where expectations from the media and fans are lower. Despite all of this, he’s still not scoring goals—which, if you’re a Leafs fan, I’m guessing you’re saying to yourself, “sounds familiar.”
Is anything different?
Marner has been held goalless so far in the playoffs. However, things are a little bit different in Vegas than in Toronto for multiple reasons. One is media pressure. The Golden Knights are a form of entertainment in Vegas, and they have a more forgiving fanbase and a somewhat less passionate fan base than the Leafs. The second one is the team. The Leafs were painted as a contender throughout the core four era; they advanced past the opening round of the playoffs twice during that time.
So in my mind, they weren’t real contenders outside of 2025. In Vegas, they’ve been contenders since they came into the NHL in the 2017–18 season. Say what you want about their LTIR salary cap loophole, but they’ve had a team that could win a Stanley Cup every year, including this year.
The third reason is that in Toronto, Marner was one of the most offensively gifted players in franchise history. He was expected to do a lot of the heavy lifting offensively for the Leafs, and he didn’t come through year after year in the playoffs. In 2021, against Montreal, he had more puck-over-glass penalties than goals. But in Toronto, Marner was relied on to drive the bus offensively along with Matthews. In Vegas, he doesn’t need to. They have a game breaker in Jack Eichel. The Leafs didn’t have a game breaker, so the pressure was on Marner to perform more than it is now.
