The Vegas Golden Knights are headed to the Stanley Cup Final after sweeping the Colorado Avalanche, the best regular season team. Mitch Marner is in contention for the Conn Smythe, leading the postseason with 21 points. The same Mitch Marner who was traded by the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Vegas Golden Knights last offseason.
As a Leafs fan, this is honestly the expected outcome, and I am not even mad. I hope Marner continues his playoff dominance in the Finals. But to say that Marner was not a reason why the Leafs had nine years of playoff failures is simply revisionist. Even more egregious is blaming the fans who have not seen their team reach the Conference Finals in 24 years, or the Finals in 59 years.
In this article, let’s take a look at Mitch Marner’s tenure and why things ended the way they did.
Mitch Marner’s tenure
Up until Marner was drafted, the Leafs’ franchise had been starved for skill for so long. Even during the “glory days” with Mats Sundin, there was not much skill on those rosters. With William Nylander and Auston Matthews, there was finally hope for the Leafs’ franchise, and Marner was a focal point in this upcoming era.
It may be hard for some people to see beyond their Leafs hate, but Marner started out as a beloved player for the Leafs. Marner was fast, skilled, and a magician with the puck. John Tavares had his career high of 88 points in his first season with the Leafs, largely playing with Marner on his wing.
Some would even go as far as to say that Marner was the heartbeat of this Leafs team. However, his tenure is not without controversy. It’s no secret that Marner has had some turbulent times as a Leaf. From the Mike Babcock stories of telling Marner to rank his teammates on work ethic, and later sharing that list in front of everyone, to fans harassing Marner at numerous points during this tenure. And for the record, the fans who harassed Marner should be booted out of the fandom. It’s never acceptable.
However, there are also things that Marner’s camp did that struck the ire of many fans while he was in Toronto. He allowed his agent to publicly criticize Matthews’ contract extension a day after Matthews signed it. Later in 2019, Marner signed a six-year, $10.893M AAV contract that was very rich for what little he or the Leafs’ team had accomplished.
He also had his security team, Rocket Security, harass people online who criticized his play. While this was likely a response to the criticism he received over the years, the other Leafs’ stars faced criticism and did not have a private firm duke it out with fans online. Nor did they allow their agent to speak ill of deals his teammates signed.
But the bigger issue was his playoff performance as a Leaf.
Marner’s playoff performance as a Leaf
The reason why Leafs fans were on Marner was because of his playoff performance, notably in critical playoff games. His performance in key playoff moments speaks for itself.
Table 1. Table showing Playoff statistics from 2019–2025 in Games 5,6, and 7.
| Player | GP | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| William Nylander | 20 | 8 | 8 | 16 |
| Auston Matthews | 18 | 8 | 4 | 12 |
| John Tavares | 17 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| Mitch Marner | 20 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
To be honest, the performance of everyone listed above is pretty abysmal when compared to other superstars. But Marner notably stands out with zero goals and seven assists in the 20 games.
Let’s say Marner had one playoff run for the Leafs like he’s having now with Vegas. How would he have been perceived? He would probably still be a Leaf. Even having one of the dominant series he’s had this year once or twice during his nine years in Toronto would have easily lessened the criticism he received.
Some would say that the Utah Mammoth and Anaheim Ducks are no Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, or Boston Bruins that the Leafs would generally face in the first or second round. However, there were times, notably against the Columbus Blue Jackets or Montreal Canadiens, where the Leafs crumbled under the pressure. Either way, Marner has to bear responsibility for those losses, too.
The question was never whether Marner lacked the skill. In fact, I think most Leafs fans would agree that he is a superstar (more so in the regular season up until this season). It was the fact that he could not get it done here in Toronto, and the relationship became toxic.
Management’s biggest sin
Some will point out that the Leafs did not have solid depth or point to the defence or point to goaltending as the key issues (not the fact that the superstars couldn’t score goals in key moments). Yes, some playoff series were lost because of those factors. But more often than not, it was because the core group did not work together–skilled individually, not a good combination.
Marner wanted superstar money, got superstar money, and could not live up to the standards set by that decision.
The whole Marner situation for me is a constant reminder of management’s blunder as opposed to Marner’s performance. The Leafs handed out lucrative contracts to their RFA superstars. Had the stars walked and signed elsewhere for similar money, the Leafs’ brass would have been eviscerated by the media. However, when the salary cap did not rise because of the pandemic, the Leafs should have pivoted. And just when it seemed like Kyle Dubas was going to trade one or both of Marner and Nylander, he was let go.
This was management’s biggest sin. The direction of this team could have been forever altered had they taken a risk and changed the DNA. Instead, they played it safe and tinkered with the bottom-six or bottom-four defence pairings year after year.
I think bringing Marner back would have been the wrong move. We already saw nine years of the same performances; we didn’t need a tenth. Whether the Leafs will be successful in this era remains to be seen. But two things can be true: Mitch Marner can be a good hockey player, but also, it didn’t work out in Toronto. Can we move on?
