Las Vegas shortstop Mitch Marner sheds Toronto’s bad breath with strong postseason play
Things didn’t end well in Toronto for superstar winger Mitch Marner.
Few things ever “end well” between a franchise and its overpriced, underperforming talent, but the final chapters in the Marner-Maple Leafs saga have been significant.
You can probably chalk most of that up to the Toronto press, which is about as toxic as it gets when it comes to North American sports, but Marner was innocent.
Toronto Maple Leafs right wing Mitch Marner skates during warmups before the game against the Detroit Red Wings at Scotiabank Arena. (Photos by Nick Turchiaro/Imagn)
His regular-season point total was one of the best in the league, but his late-season play was the subject of so much scrutiny, that many hockey fans thought all Marner needed was a change of position to open up his postseason opportunities.
CANCKS LOAD FAILED STAR JT MILLER IN TRADE TO RANGERS AMID TEAMMATE REUNION
So far, only nine games into his first season south of the Canadian border, Marner is thriving, and his “arrival” will come Friday night in the Las Vegas Golden Knights’ 6-2 loss against the Anaheim Ducks.
That’s Marner’s first hat trick of the playoffs, but it gets even crazier than that.
The 29-year-old played in 70 playoff games as a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and recorded only two multi-goal games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
He has two playoff appearances with the Golden Knights.
Marner’s postseason scoring mark before he arrived in Sin City was three goals, which he apparently only matched in Friday’s game.
Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs talk during the first period against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game Seven of the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on May 14, 2022. (Mark Blinch/NHLI/Getty Images)
Any way you cut it, Marner is running playoff demons with an entire career in just one year.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS MAKE HEAD COACH JOIN AS STANLEY CUP looms
The big question will be whether he can find postseason success with his new team, given that the Golden Knights are in familiar territory for Marner.
His time in Toronto was infamous because the Leafs couldn’t get past the second round of the playoffs.
With a 2-1 series lead over the Ducks, Vegas is just a few wins away from showing up for the latest part of the season it’s never seen before: the Conference Finals.
The sky may be the limit for Marner and this Golden Knights team.
With the big bad guy on the Western Conference block, the Edmonton Oilers, sent home early from the big dance, coupled with Marner’s incredible performance, Vegas could return to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since winning it all three seasons ago.
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DOD NOT @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against the Edmonton Oilers during the third period of game two of the second round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., on May 8, 2025. (Stephen R. Sylvanie/Imagn Images)
It’s been a perfect marriage so far between Marner and the Golden Knights, and it doesn’t hurt that the Toronto Maple Leafs are so dirty in their first season without the man who fled the city that they’re now in a position to make another future star (Gavin McKenna) to fulfill high hopes.
Godspeed, Gavin.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS PROGRAM
If things go bad enough for you, you can move on to greener pastures and resurrect your career.
If it worked for Marner, it can work for you.
