Ask a Toronto Maple Leafs fan about Mitch Marner ‘s performance in the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs for the Vegas Golden Knights and a lot of words will follow, a few of them printable.
Two of the most common ones: “of course.”
As in, of course Marner would make his first appearance in the conference finals the minute he's no longer a Maple Leaf.
Of course this postseason pariah, this lightning rod of ire through so many disappointing ends in Toronto, would become the playoffs' leading scorer and the leader for the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Of course he's a handful of wins away from following in the tradition of Lanny McDonald, Larry Murphy, Phil Kessel, Tyler Bozak and Nazem Kadri as players who won the Stanley Cup in another city after failing to help Toronto plan their first parade since 1967.
Of course this is happening for Mitch Marner.
“That goes with the territory.
It just becomes part of the sport itself: Which ex-Leaf is going to raise the Cup this year, because they couldn't do it here?” said Kevin McGran, a writer for the Toronto Star who attended his first game at Maple Leaf Gardens in 1971.
That it might be Marner's turn has left some fans flustered.
“It's amazing to me listening to grown-ass men, who have families and important jobs, and they're like, ’I can't believe he might win a Stanley Cup. It's just awful,'” said Jeff O'Neill, a former NHL player turned radio and television analyst at TSN in Canada.
Marner spent nine years with the Maple Leafs after they drafted him No. 4 in 2015 . The Ontario native amassed 741 points in 657 regular-season games.
Toronto made the playoffs nine times during Marner's tenure.
The Leafs advanced past the opening round twice, and never beyond.
Marner became the poster boy for that playoff futility, for reasons ranging from his lack of goal production to his performance in elimination games.
There were off-ice factors such as his significant salary and at times aloof comments, such as when he said that Maple Leafs players are “looked upon as gods here, to be honest” by fans.
“It comes with being one of the highest-paid players on the team.
The buck stops with him, so to speak,” an NHL player who played in Toronto with Marner told ESPN. “When you have those aspirations as a team, that's always who's going to get the fingers pointed at them when things fall short.”
In 2025, Marner was set to become an unrestricted free agent.
He chose not to extend with the Maple Leafs, later declaring that it was “time for a new chapter in life.” Toronto struck a sign-and-trade deal with the Golden Knights, who landed Marner with an eight-year, $96 million extension.
Marner said hearing constant criticism in Toronto became “a real mental grind” and affected him physically.
His agent, Darren Ferris, told the 100% Hockey podcast that fans would litter Marner's yard, while Marner revealed that his home address had been doxxed after the Leafs lost to the Florida Panthers in seven games last postseason.
Marner said his family had full-time security for weeks after the playoffs.
“The market's very passionate.
They love the team.
I was born and raised there.
I've been a part of the Leafs Nation for a long time,” Marner said. “But when your family's safety comes into question, especially having a new son, I don't think it's acceptable.”
After a below-average regular season by his standards, one that saw the winger shift to center out of lineup necessity, Marner has dominated the postseason in a way few that watched him in Toronto could ever conceive.
He has been asked about this playoff glow-up throughout the Golden Knights' run, but Marner has refused to get granular about why things are working in Vegas when they didn't in Toronto.
“I feel like I just want to go out there and play my game.
I feel like I've been doing that for a while.
I know probably people think the results weren't coming in the past.
Sometimes that's what happens,” Marner said after a hat trick in Game 3 of their series against Anaheim. “I just try to go out there and do the thing I do.”
His coach John Tortorella, who took over the Knights with eight games left in the regular season, has been more forthcoming.
“I think he's hell of a hockey player.
I think he's very confident in what he brings.
People give him s--- all the time about playoffs and this and that.
I don't think it bothers him a lick.
He just plays,” he said.
How is Mitch Marner, Conn Smythe favorite, resonating with those who witnessed his playoff performances in Toronto?
“People are just idiots these days. They seem to have this hatred and vitriol towards Marner,” O'Neill said. “But I'd love to see the kid win the Stanley Cup.”
THE REACTION IN TORONTO to Marner's run with the Golden Knights seems to fall into three distinct categories: