In many ways, Mitch Marner defied the critics, but his year ended on a familiar note. On the wrong end of the handshake line, failing to come up in the clutch, getting skewered by elements of social media in these parts.
By leading the NHL in playoff scoring and going two rounds longer than he did in nine seasons as a Maple Leaf, it set Marner and the Vegas Golden Knights up for success in the Stanley Cup final. He finished seven points ahead of the next highest producer, teammate Jack Eichel.
Marner had worked hard to change the narrative. His 10 goals in 22 games this spring compared to 13 in 70 as a Leaf, along with a personal-best 19 post-season assists. He did have a boffo Game 3 in the final, scoring a natural hat trick. But from there, the resilient Carolina Hurricanes, a team with no stars in the Marner pay range, took control of the series.
In Games 4, 5 and 6, Marner mustered one assist, four shots on goal and a minus-5, ending Sunday when Nik Ehlers drilled the empty-netter past him to clinch a 3-0 win.
It wasn’t just Marner who struggled at the end, as Eichel was neutralized, particularly in the faceoff dots where he was 13-of-35 the last two losses, with he and snipers such as Mark Stone missing great chances Sunday.
Why does losing to Carolina hurt even more?
That it was Carolina who ended Marner’s run will be a sore spot, as they sought Marner at the trade deadline a year earlier for Mikko Rantanen. Marner exercised a clause to block it, citing in part the impending birth of his first child, but in doing so preventing a proper return for the franchise’s fifth-highest scorer.
Most believe Marner had already set a course to leave Toronto as a free agent and, only in a last-minute sign-and-trade deal with Vegas, did the Leafs get a minimal return in centre Nicolas Roy, who the Leafs ended up trading anyway.
No doubt they missed Marner’s potential 100 points in regular season — ex-coach Craig Berube having to eat his words how glad he was to be free of any more “Core Four” references — and there was no playoff comparison to the Leafs being better sans Marner when they came last in the division.
On a deeper Vegas team that didn’t put as much mileage on him, Marner’s points dropped to 80 on second-line right wing with lesser-known players. He was fine with that and far less media attention, a fact of life in Toronto, though one he loathed when the heat turned up on him Auston Matthews, William Nylander and John Tavares and their playoff history. Marner had felt too much of that criticism fell on him.
Other than alluding to “dark times” in Toronto during these playoffs which he’s yet to elaborate on, Marner spoke well all season of his hometown team, leaving it to Knights coach John Tortorella and general manager Kelly McCrimmon to chide those in Leafs Nation for not appreciating what he brings in a 200-foot game.
Marner and the often-crusty Torts seemed to hit it off when the latter replaced Bruce Cassidy and Marner was a deserved part of the Conn Smythe Trophy conversation with his productive playoffs. But that dried up the past three games.
Marner’s moment of lifting the Cup for a lap, which Phil Kessel and Nazem Kadri revelled in to silence detractors in Toronto, will have to wait. This year at least, no one on either side of this debate went home a winner.
