The Toronto Maple Leafs have been one of the most predictable teams in the National Hockey League. Every season they are viewed as one of the most physically talented teams in the league and they regularly perform well during the regular season. But the playoffs are another story. Once the Maple Leafs reach the postseason they tend to flame out and they leave their multitude of fans in a state of major depression.
That was once again the case this year as the Maple Leafs lost their first-round series to the Boston Bruins in heartbreaking fashion. After falling behind 3-1 in the series, the Maple Leafs won games 5 and 6 to force a decisive 7th game. The Maple Leafs pushed hard for 60-plus minutes at Boston's TD Garden, but their season ended in tears when Bruins superstar David Pastrnak scored in overtime to end the series.
When the Maple Leafs lose in the playoffs, the post-mortems tend to focus on who is to blame and what changes should be made. Head coach Sheldon Keefe was dismissed shortly after the Leafs endured Pastrnak's heartbreaking goal, and the conversation focused on which players needed to go after that. There has been quite a bit of conversation regarding Mitch Marner, the high-scoring and quicksilver winger who has tended to disappoint in the playoffs.
Golden Knights reportedly have an interest in dealing for Leafs' Marner
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman has said that the Vegas Golden Knights have an interest in acquiring Marner. Vegas won the Stanley Cup last year under head coach Bruce Cassidy but they did not have enough clutch scoring this year to get out of the first round.
Friedman has suggested the Golden Knights would explore the potential acquisition of Marner because the Vegas organization has displayed a tendency to go after big-name players. They traded for Noah Hanifin and Tomas Hertl this season and they have acquired big names in Jack Eichel and Mark Stone in the past.
Cassidy coached the Bruins for several years before being hired by the Golden Knights, so he saw Marner regularly and knows how dangerous he can be.
Marner scored scored 26 goals and 59 assists during the regular season for 85 points in 69 games. That performance came on the heels of his 2022-23 regular season, the best year of his career.
He had 99 points that season, including 30 goals and 69 assists. He has scored 90 points or more three times in his career.
While Marner's regular-season totals are impressive, his playoff performances have been up and down. He had just a goal and two assists in the loss to the Bruins, an he has had 4 points of less in 4 playoff series.
However, when the Leafs beat the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs and went on to the second round, Marner scored 14 points in 11 games. That demonstrated he is capable of a solid performance in the postseason.
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