As the Vegas Golden Knights celebrated their Western Conference Final sweep over the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night, it was probably a rough watch for a lot of Toronto Maple Leafs fans.
Mitch Marner is heading to the Stanley Cup Final in his first season away from Toronto, and he’s been right in the middle of everything for Vegas during this run.
Marner shows Maple Leafs fans what could have been
He now leads all playoff scorers with 21 points in 15 games, but honestly, it’s more than just the numbers. He looks comfortable. Relaxed even. That’s something people probably didn’t say enough during his years with the Maple Leafs, especially once the playoffs rolled around and every mistake turned into a week-long conversation.
Every spring became the same debate. Was the core good enough? Could Marner handle playoff hockey? Why wasn’t the offence translating the same way? Fair or not, a lot of it always circled back to him. Now he’s in Vegas, and the entire conversation feels different.
He was strong again in the 2-1 win that finished off Colorado, and throughout this playoff run, he’s looked like a player completely comfortable in the moment. The offence has obviously been there, but so has the defensive side of his game. Vegas has trusted him in every situation.
From Toronto’s side, that’s where this becomes a little frustrating to watch. The sign-and-trade last summer that brought Nicolas Roy to the Maple Leafs was supposed to change the direction of the roster after another disappointing playoff exit. The organization wanted a different look and a different feel to the group, and after that failed. They decided to move on from Roy and trade him to the Avalanche at this year's trade deadline.
Instead, Marner leaves and immediately reaches another level somewhere else.
That’s going to leave some lingering questions around the Leafs for a while, especially if Vegas finishes the job. Because when a player this talented suddenly looks freer the second he leaves Toronto, people are naturally going to wonder how much of the problem was ever actually the player in the first place.
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