The hockey gods have a twisted sense of humour.
As if it were preordained, Mitch Marner will play in the Stanley Cup Final in his first season with the Vegas Golden Knights. On top of that, Marner is the current front-runner for the Conn Smythe Trophy with a playoff-leading 21 points in 16 games.
“It was a special moment,” Marner told reporters after the Golden Knights swept the Colorado Avalanche.
“There’s been some dark times in hockey for (me), honestly. … (I’m) very excited to be here, very excited to be a part of this team. That’s something I’ve talked about since Day 1.”
It should go without saying that Marner’s instant success in Vegas does not erase the failures that he and the Toronto Maple Leafs experienced together. But this playoff run has led to a re-examination of some of the narratives that hounded Marner during his years with the Maple Leafs.
One of those narratives was that Marner shied from the so-called “hard areas” when physical play ratcheted up in the playoffs. There was some merit to that. For example, 50.2 per cent of Marner’s total shot attempts over seven regular seasons in the Core Four era (2018-19 to 2024-25) came from the slot. That dropped to 40.9 per cent in the playoffs over that span and certainly contributed to Marner scoring only 10 goals in 57 games. Marner’s shot quality, as measured by expected goals, declined from 0.33 per game in the regular season to 0.21 in the playoffs.
There have been no such issues for Marner this year. He has fired 48.2 per cent of his playoff shot attempts (41 of 85) from the slot, which has led to six of his career-high seven playoff goals.
Marner has been a constant presence in front of the net, sharing the league lead with 19 inner-slot shots. Over seven playoff appearances in Toronto, Marner totalled 26 inner-slot shots. (It has been noted that Vegas’ opponents through the first three rounds of the playoffs — Utah, Anaheim and Colorado — differ in style than the more punishing teams Marner often faced in Toronto.)
Unlike with the Maple Leafs, Marner has delivered in clutch moments for the Golden Knights, recording three goals and five points in three potential series-clinching games. He had zero goals and six assists in 16 potential clinching games before this season. (Toronto went 2-14 in those games.)
“I feel like I just want to go out there and play my game,” Marner told reporters in the second round. “I feel like I’ve been doing that for a while. I know probably people think the results weren’t coming in the past. Sometimes that’s what happens.”
Vegas is winning Marner’s five-on-five minutes on both the scoreboard (11-7) and territorially (51.8 expected-goal rate). After playing out of position at centre for a large portion of the regular season and part of the playoffs, Marner has settled back at right wing on the Golden Knights’ second line alongside Brett Howden and William Karlsson. They have outscored opponents 3-0 and generated 55.1 per cent of the expected goals in 90:35 of ice time. Their instant chemistry is impressive, considering they shared only 6:50 of ice time at even strength in the regular season as Karlsson missed nearly six months of action because of injury before returning in the second round.
Marner has helped Howden, who scored 12 goals in 58 regular-season games, transform into an offensive force at the most important time of the year. Half of Howden’s 10 playoff goals, which are tied with teammate Pavel Dorofeyev for the league lead, have been directly assisted by Marner. That includes all of Howden’s league-high three short-handed goals.
Vegas has become the premier landing spot for star players in need of rejuvenation. The results speak for themselves. Four wins from lifting the Stanley Cup after so many disappointments, Marner has an opportunity to become the Golden Knights’ biggest success story.
“I don’t think there’s ever a problem with his confidence,” Golden Knights coach John Tortorella told reporters earlier in the playoffs. “People talk about him, this, that, and the other. I don’t think he listens to it, whether it be good or bad. He’s just a hockey player. I never worry about how he feels about it. That’s why he’s one of the best players around. He’s got that proper mindset.”