Toronto Maple Leafs fans have been dazzled by the magic of Mitch Marner for almost the past decade. This season, it was no different as the star winger helped lead the Maple Leafs to their ninth consecutive playoff appearance in the end.
For 2024-25, Marner put together his best campaign of his NHL career, recording his first ever 100-point season with 27 goals and a career-high 75 assists for 102 total points. More importantly, he managed to keep the Leafs team winning when Toronto captain Auston Matthews was ailing due to injury for various parts of the year. On top of that, despite the team’s disappointing playoff finish, Marner produced at a point-per-game pace with two goals, 11 assists for 13 points in 13 postseason games to finish second to William Nylander in team playoff scoring.
2024-25 Maple Leafs Player Grades: Mitch Marner going out with a bang?
However, if we take a look at some of the advanced stats, Marner actually had only a 49.98 CF% on the season in 5-on-5 situations, which was his lowest mark ever in his NHL career. In addition, his expected goals rate of 51.77% was also his lowest since way back in his rookie season in 2016-17. As a result, even though Marner finished third in the league in assists and fifth in points during the 2024-25 season, he wasn’t as dominating when on the ice like he usually was.
Nevertheless, Marner was still an integral part of the Leafs special teams, recording 33 power play points to help the team finish ninth in the league in power play success rate. The 28-year-old star winger also added two shorthanded points and enabled the Leafs penalty kill to finish respectably in 17th. Being an elite player that could handle both offensive and defensive duties competently, it sure made Marner a special player to have.
However, despite his resounding performance during the regular season, for a Leafs team that has been hungry for a Stanley Cup for ages, his overall value has often inadvertently been tied to how much success he has brought during the playoff run as well. It happened again this year as Marner failed to produce during the Leafs most crucial games during the second round as they fell ultimately to the Stanley Cup champions Florida Panthers.
As it appears more and more that he won’t be returning to the Maple Leafs for a tenth consecutive season, there is no question about his value that he has provided Toronto during his time here. Because Marner contributes in every aspect of the game, the Leafs will likely feel the loss much more than expected if they indeed move on from the star winger.
Overall for this past season, even with the letdown in the playoffs, Marner was nonetheless among the elite in the league and remained one of the key players on the Leafs in leading them to a successful 2024-25 in which they finished first in the Atlantic Division for the first time ever. As a result, he deserves a solid and respectable A-.