The Most Hated Ex-Leaf Returns

The Toronto Maple Leafs again are in a win-or-else scenario in the middle of their last homestand before the Olympic break. The club sleptwalked through a loss to the Minnesota Wild on Monday and lost 2-1 to Detroit on an overtime mistake by rookie Easton Cowan. Not only is their meeting with the Vegas Golden Knights a must-win, but it is the date that fans circled on the schedule going back to the summer because it is the return of Mitch Marner.  

It is a waste of time to go over the history. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman did an excellent job of encapsulating the saga, but on his 32 Thoughts podcast, said there were things left out of the story because he did not want to out his sources. 

Here are the facts……is Mitch Marner talented?….. Definitely. Is he a franchise cornerstone?…..yes……but is he a great player?……no. 

Great players perform in the regular season and in the playoffs when it counts. Marner has a few good series in the post-season, but has never put it all together, which is something you would expect from someone who made $11 million for six seasons. Is it possible that he will lead Vegas to a Stanley Cup? Probably not. He might be a very expensive passenger, but it will likely fall on guys like Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, and Tomas Hertl to carry the weight. 

You could apply the “are they great” standard to current members of the Leafs, and you would be right. Until they win, those players will not be considered great.

The vitriol regarding Marner is not felt by his former teammates. The comments made by Joseph Woll earlier in the week, that he hopes fans will be respectful attests to that. Those feelings will not be felt by the fans. There were Toronto fans who traveled to Las Vegas to attend the first meeting last week who booed him constantly, and according to David Pagnotta, there were Toronto fans at the Golden Knights – Bruins game in Boston who booed the ex-#16. 

The fan reaction for Marner tonight will not be mixed cheers and booes, as it was for Mats Sundin in 2009. It will be cathartic for the patrons of Scotiabank Arena to make their feelings felt towards a player who never came through in the clutch, prevented them from getting a franchise player back in a deal before the 2025 trade deadline, who reportedly had his parents shopping for houses in Vegas during the season, and who said in his media availability on Friday that he does not want look back in the past anymore. 

Of course, Marner doesn’t want to look back at the past, because he does not want to face the fact that he played a big part in the failure of this franchise for the last seven or eight years, and does not want to be accountable for it. Sometimes hurt feelings fade with time, but the machinations by Marner, his manipulative father, and his agent will make the disdain for him last a very long time. 

Toronto may have dodged a bullet once again regarding the injuries on the blueline, as defensemen Brandon Carlo and Oliver Ekman-Larsson both took the morning skate on Friday. Henry Thrun was recalled from the AHL Toronto Marlies as a precaution against a game-time decision. 

The biggest surprise was the appearance of Anthony Stolarz in the home crease at the morning skate. The big netminder has not played since November 11, and has practiced with the Marlies this week after being loaned on a conditioning stint. Vegas played in Boston on Thursday, losing 4-3 to the Bruins with backup Akira Schmid in goal, which means that Adin Hill will get the start for the Golden Knights.