It's put up or shut up time for Mitch Marner. Fresh off a just-under point-per-game regular season, the sometimes-winger, sometimes-center has been a critical piece of the Golden Knights' offense this season, with his 80 points second only to Jack Eichel. He also avoided injury this season, a rarity for Golden Knights stars, with his only missed game being a rest day immediately following the Olympics.
But none of that addresses the elephant in the room: his playoff performances. Marner was dogged in Toronto as a choker; despite his 63 points in 70 playoff games looking impressive on paper, much has been made of his lack of late-series scoring.
From 2019 to his final season in Toronto, Marner recorded seven assists and zero goals in games 5-7 of Toronto's various series, and was scapegoated for the Leafs' many playoff failures as a result. But how relevant is that to his new start in Vegas? Spoiler alert: it's not, and here's why.
Vegas has a history of narrative-busting
If there's one thing that defines the Golden Knights, it's blowing apart tired narratives. From the inaugural season onwards, things have never quite gone, "as they're supposed to go." In that vein, one can believe that Marner's history will flutter away here.
Think back to when Jack Eichel got here. He had been derided as a "locker room cancer," being stripped of the captaincy in Buffalo, and surrounded by questions of how he'd do when back from injury. Instead, he's become a key part of a Cup-winning squad, leading Vegas in points all but one full season since his arrival, and in the 2023 playoffs.
Heck, even go back to Marc-Andre Fleury. Prior to arriving in Vegas, he'd become known as a goalie who couldn't get it done when it mattered, blowing multiple playoff series singlehandedly and losing his job to Matt Murray. Instead, he led Vegas to the Final in that inaugural season, and several years later, sealed his Hall of Fame case with a well-deserved Vezina trophy.
If that history holds up, there's no telling what playoff success Marner will find here. Nothing from before matters, only the here and now in gold.
Marner is under less pressure and surrounded by playoff experience
In a less theoretical sense, the environment around Marner seems far more conducive to playoff success. Toronto is infamous as arguably the toughest media market in hockey, with criticism abound from both reporters and an aggressively passionate fanbase. Not that he's "soft," but simply put, some guys need less pressure and less outside noise to strike gold, and in moving to Vegas, Marner has that now. Instead of the loud anger of Toronto's beat reporters, he's got a fanbase that basically has complete dedication to the team and its players. If there's one thing we aren't known as, it's being a tough fanbase to play in front of.
On top of that, look at the roster around him. In Toronto, Marner was one of "the guys," with the core 4 being singlehandedly responsible for bringing the Leafs back into contention in the late 2010s after a brief rebuild. In Vegas, however, he's coming into a group that's already heavily experienced with deep playoff runs. Eight of Vegas' expected starters these playoffs were part of the Cup team, with backups Ben Hutton and Adin Hill also hanging around.
Beyond that, guys like Tomas Hertl and Colton Sissons made the Finals with their former squads, and Brandon Saad is a multi-time Cup champion. The point is this: Marner is in a locker room that already knows how to win, rather than being expected to lead one into winning. With that weight off his shoulders, he's free to play his game as best he can, and alongside the rest of this top six, it should be a great run.
Ultimately, we'll see what happens over the next week. Game 1 against Utah begins in just a few hours; go Knights go!
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